+ f ‘I  " >i  .urttri  ' •'  IwflWt 1 Vi  i«  ihh,  ft 





«- 


* 


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hpI"**"  * M * * Ih  n 


by 

The  World’s  Greatest  Artists 


Selected  from  the  Best  and  Most  Noted 
Art  Galleries  of 

France,  England,  Italy, 
The  United  States 

and  Many  Other  Countries 

CHICAGO 

Stanton  ^VanVliet  (Q. 

PUBLISHERS 


Copyright,  1917,  by 
STANTON  & VAN  VLIET  CO. 


COPYRIGHT 

MCMII 

THOMPSON  At  THOMAS 


Famous  Pictures 


FAMOUS  PICTURES 


The  highest  form  of  the  painter’s  art  is  conceded  to  be  the  delineation  of  ths 
human  figure,  and  the  loftiest  range  of  figure  painting  is  that  which  is  compre- 
hended under  the  general  title  of  the  nude  The  painting  of  the  nude  model  is  the 
crowning  test  of  an  art  student’s  proficiency,  and  the  accomplished  artist  turns  to 
classical  and  idyllic  subjects  in  order  to  establish  the  loftiest  standard  of  his  skill. 
Only  those  who  have  made  an  actual  study  of  art  can  really  understand  the  enor- 
mous difficulties  involved  in  the  representation  of  the  human  form,  in  all  its  subtle 
beauties  of  outline  and  its  delicate  inflections  of  color  and  light  and  shade,  unassisted 
by  the  picturesque  accessories  of  costume.  It  has  been  said  that  the  successful  execu- 
tion of  such  subjects  definitively  marks  the  difference  between  an  artist  and  a painter, 
and  that  this  is  the  case,  the  examples  presented  in  this  work  will,  we  think,  prove. 

While,  in  practically  every  instance,  the  artists  represented  in  these  pages  are 
painters  of  conceded  eminence  and  international  fame,  these  facts  have  had  no 


OTOM  A PAINTING  BY  F.  M.  LARD. 


FALLEN  ROSE  LEAVES.’ 


FROM  A PAINTING  BY  H.  PICOU. 

LOVE  LIGHTER  THAN  THE  BUTTERFLY. 

bearing  or  influence  on  the  selection  of  their  pictures  for  reproduction.  The  intrinsic 
merit  of  the  painting,  its  value  as  an  artistic  work,  the  completeness  with  which  it 
represents  the  ability  and  style  of  the  artist,  and  the  interest  of  its  subject,  have 
been  combined  to  form  the  test  by  which  it  has  been  judged.  No  picture,  for 
example,  has  been  taken  merely  because  it  was  painted  by  a famous  man,  nor  any 
rejected  because  the  painter  was  at  the  commencement  of  his  career  or  possibly 
unknown  to  general  popularity,  it  is  only  by  such  rigid  impartiality* that  justice 


FROM  A PAINTING  BY  CARL  80HN,  JR. 

“AT  THE  MASQUERADE.” 


could  be  done,  both  to  the  subject  of  this  work  and  to  the  individuals  of  whom 
it  treats.  Among  the  artists  with  whom  we  shall  have  occasion  to  deal  will  be 
found  many  whose  works  are  widely  known,  but  the  details  of  whose  lives  are 


obscure.  This  will  be  found  due  to  the  inadequacy  of  the  ordinary  enyclopedias 
of  artist-biography.  While  these  compilations  are  usually  good  as  far  as  they  go, 
they  do  not  go  far  enough.  They  are  not  actually  up  to  date  in  matters  of  infor- 
mation even  when  published,  and  in  a year  or  two  new  men  achieve  success  who 
were  unknown  when  the  books  were  written.  In  “Modern  Figure  Painting,” 
which  brings  facts  down  not  only  to  the  year  but  to  the  month  of  its  issue,  will, 
therefore,  be  found  many  items  of  great  personal-interest,  which  would  be  looked 
for  in  vain  in  any  other  publication.  This  information,  laboriously  assembled 
from  a hundred  different  sources,  is  the  latest  which  is  procurable,  and  as  correct 
as  it  has  been  possible  to  make  it,  so  that,  distinct  from  its  pictorial  value, 
“ Modern  Figure  Painting”  will  possess  that  of  a current  record  of  the  artistic 
progress  of  our  own  time. 

Having,  in  a general  way,  outlined  our  purpose,  and  the  methods  applied  to 
its  accomplishment,  let  us  direct  our  attention  to  the  results. 

The  first  subject  chosen  by  us  is  a picture  which  attracted  much  attention  at 
the  Salon  Exhibition  in  Paris  in  1894:  a young  girl,  on  the  morning  after  her  first 
ball,  lost  in  reverie  over  the  wilted  flowers  which  remain  to  her  as  faded  trophies  of 
the  festival.  The  painter  of  “Fallen  Rose-Leaves,”  F.  M.  Lard,  is  a Parisian,  for 
some  years  a contributor  to  the  Salon  of  works  of  a similar  class  oi genre,  and  much 
charm  of  color  and  refinement  of  execution.  More  elaborate  in  composition  and 
material  is  “ Chilly,”  by  Jules  Scalbert:  two  modern  wood-nymphs,  one  of  whom 
already  bathes  in  the  pellucid  waters  of  a sylvan  stream,  while  her  companion  lingers 
on  the  bank,  half  timid  and  half  shivering  at  the  cold  caress  of  the  summer  breeze. 
Scalbert,  who  has  achieved  an  enviable  reputation  as  a painter  of  these  graceful 
idylls,  was  born  at  the  old  city  of  Douai,  in  the  Department  du  Nord,  and  studied 
his  art  under  Pils  and  Petit.  He  has  been  a regular  exhibitor  at  the  Salon  for  some 
fifteen  years.  “ Chilly”  is  one  of  his  latest  works. 

The  name  of  Carl  Sohn,  the  younger,  is  well  and  favorably  known  at  the  Ger- 


FROM  A PAINTING  BY  R.  MEGAT  DU  MALMONT. 


LA  CIGALE. 


FROM  A PAINTING  BY  L.  ALMA-TADEMA. 

THE  OLD  STORY. 


man  exhibitions.  He  belongs  to  a family  of  Diisseldorf  artists,  his  father,  after 
whom  he  is  named  and  whose  pupil  he  is,  being  a distinguished  portrait  and  genre 
painter.  “ At  the  Masquerade”  was  one  of  the  attractions  of  the  Berlin  Annual 
Exhibition  of  1891. 

One  of  the  most  successful  graduates  of  the  studios  of  Jacquand  and  J.  L. 
Gerome,  Albert  Aublet,  is  a Parisian  by  birth.  He  received  his  first  Salon  medal 
in  1880,  and  won  steadily  increasing  popularity,  chiefly  by  pictures  of  a graceful 
decorative  character,  remarkable  for  beauty  of  form  and  tender  purity  of  color,  of 
which  “ Sleep”  is  an  admirable  example.  An  appropriate  pendant  to  “ Sleep”  is  “ A 
Couch  of  Roses”  by  Joseph  Saint-Germier,  another  artist  whose  decorative  pictures 
have  gained  him  merited  distinction.  He  is  a native  of  Toulouse,  and  after  com- 
mencing his  studies  at  the  art  academy  of  his  native  city,  became  a pupil  in  Paris 
of  the  famous  painter  Galland,  from  whom  his  mastery  of  the  style  of  subjects  he 
adopted  was  largely  derived.  Those  who  have  had  the  good  fortune  to  visit  the 
New  York  mansion  of  the  late  William  H.  Vanderbilt,  now  the  home  of  his  widow 
and  of  his  younger  son,  Mr.  George  W.  Vanderbilt,  and  have  examined  the 
magnificent  interior  decorations  of  that  American  palace,  will  recall,  among  them, 
the  ceiling  and  wall  paintings  executed  to  order  for  the  places  they  occupy  by 
Galland,  and  form  from  them  that  idea  of  the  beauties  of  color  in  the  pictures  of 
his  gifted  disciple  which  our  illustration  cannot  convey. 

A painter  of  striking  seductiveness  of  style  is  Max  Nonnenbruch,  of  Munich. 
After  winning  recognition  by  his  earlier  works  of  domestic  genre,  he  devoted  him- 
self almost  entirely  to  idyllic  and  semi-classical  subjects,  akin  in  feeling  to  “The 
Favorite,”  in  which  he  found  the  true  direction  of  his  talent,  and  by  which  he  is 
represented  in  the  greatest  private  collections  of  Germany.  Paul  Mousset  is  a 
Parisian  artist,  a young  man  who  while  still  a student  achieved  a distinct  reputation 

10 


FROM  A PAINTING  BY  J.  D.  CAUCANNIER. 

THE  MODEL’S  LUNCHEON. 

by  his  mastery  of  the  figure.  His  pictures  show  him  to  be  a strong  and  accurate 
draughtsman,  a good  colorist,  and  a painter  of  elegant  and  finished  execution. 
Although  he  produces  portraits  and  genre  subjects,  his  best  work  has  unquestionably 
been  in  the  line  of  “The  Love  Birds,”  pictures  painted  for  the  decoration  of  some 
of  the  most  luxurious  mansions  of  Paris’.  More  in  the  vein  of  Nonnenbruch,  but 
of  even  more  extended  fame  and  popularity,  is  Nathaniel  Sichel,  of  Berlin,  a grad- 
uate of  the  Berlin  Academy  and  the  Paris  Academy.  He  was  born  at  Mayence,  and 
was  first  a lithographer.  He  is  a favorite  portrait  painter  in  Germany,  and  his 

12 


FROM  A PA.NTING  BY  EMMANUEL  BENNER. 

“A  STUDY.” 
H 


FROM  A PAINTING  BY  NATHANIEL  SICHEL. 

■‘TURANDOT.” 

historical  pictures  may  be  found  in  various  public  collections,  but  the  world  knows 
him  best  by  his  refined  and  dignified  classical  pictures,  like  “A  Vestal  Virgin,”  and 
his  peculiarly  beautiful  ideal  compositions. 

Emmanuel  Benner  is  one  of  the  foremost  painters  of  the  figure,  and  one  of  the 
greatest  masters  of  the  nude  in  particular,  who  exhibit  at  the  Paris  Salon.  He  was 
born  at  Mulhausen,  in  Alsace,  and  studied  under  Pils  in  Paris.  His  pictures,  which, 

16 


FROM  A PAINTING  BY  EUGENE  DE  BLAA8. 

ITALIAN  PEASANT  BOY. 

126* 

like  “A  Study,”  are  usually  very  simple  in  subject,  possess  an  extraordinary  natu- 
ralness of  color,  and  are  equally  lifelike  in  modelling  and  spirit.  In  “Turandot” 
N.  Sichel  gives  us  one  of  his  ideal  Oriental  types,  whose  voluptuous  and  alluring 
beauty  is  in  marked  contrast  to  the  serene  dignity  of  his  “Vestal  Virgin.”  The 
“Japanese  Bather”  of  P.  Mousset  is  another  picture  in  the  same  feeling  as  “The 
Love  Birds,”  but  of  more  elaborate  treatment.  The  original  of  this  bather  is  a 
native  Japanese  woman  of  a damling  beauty  very  rare  with  her  race,  who  came  to 

16 


FROM  A PAINTING  BY  GUSTAV  GRAEF. 

“BIANCHINA.” 

Europe  some  years  ago,  and  has  since  served  as  a model  for  the  Paris  painters — 
the  only  Japanese  model  known,  at  least  outside  of  Japan.  Gustav  Graef  of  Berlin 
is  a widely  known  painter,  who  has  been  especially  successful  in  female  portraiture, 
and  in  those  gentle  and  poetic  ideal  types  of  feminine  beauty  of  which  his  “ Bian- 
china,  ” which  is  an  idealized  portrait  of  a Venetian  girl,  is  a sterling  illustration. 

Rene-Joseph  Gilbert,  who  is  one  of  the  foremost  of  the  pupils  of  the  late  Alex- 
andre Cabanel,  was  born  in  Paris,  and  is  a thorough  Parisian  in  his  art.  He  is  a 

17 


brilliant  and  powerful  colorist,  and  his  pictures  reveal  an  amazing  facility  in  the 
rendition  of  textures,  which,  even  in  the  black  and  white  reproduction  of  “A  Mid- 
summer Siesta,”  can  be  distinctly  observed.  Another  of  the  Paris  artists,  although 
only  by  adoption,  is  Miecislaw  Reyzner.  He  is  of  Polish  origin,  and  studied  at  the 
Munich  Academy  and  at  the  Paris  Ecole  des  Beaux  Arts.  The  success  he  attained 
with  pictures  of  the  dainty,  decorative  order  of  his  “Morning,”  encouraged  him 
to  settle  permanently  in  Paris,  where  he  speedily  found  substantial  support.  Cas- 
par Ritter,  of  Carlsruhe,  is  a favorite  German  painter  of  subjects  of  sentiment.  His 
“Consolation  in  Song”  is  a realization  of  the  German  version  of  our  familiar  Eng- 
lish proverb,  “Music  Hath  Charms.” 

At  the  Salon  exhibition  of  1891,  a picture  which  attracted  a marked  amount  of 
attention  was  a vividly  painted  midsummer  landscape,  with  the  figures  of  three 
wood-nymphs,  basking  in  the  flood  of  golden  sunshine.  It  was  entitled  “ Summer- 
time. ” The  painter  was  A.  Axilette,  a Parisian  artist  whose  studio  was  already 
well  known  to  collectors.  The  success  of  “ Summertime"  in  Europe  was  enormous. 
It  was  successively  exhibited  at  various  continental  exhibitions,  and  everywhere 
repeated  the  hit  it  had  made  in  France.  It  was,  in  fact,  one  of  those  works  of 
which  it  is  said  that  they  “ make”  their  authors,  and  in  the  sense  that  it  completely 
established  the  painter’s  reputation,  “Summertime-’  realized  this  figure  of  speech. 

It  will  be  noted,  from  these  examples,  that  they  conform  closely  to  the  title  of 
this  work.  They  are  essentially  modern,  in  every  quality  of  conception  and  exe- 
cution. The  great  and  celebrated  works  of  figure  art  of  the  first  half  of  the  present 
century,  and  those  of  the  remoter  past,  are  familiar  to  all  persons  of  cultivated 
tastes  and  a love  for  the  beautiful.  The  immortal  productions  of  Titian  and 


FROM  A PAINT.NO  BY  P.  CARRIER- BE. LLEUSE. 


ON  THE  BEAR  RUG 


FROM  A PAINTING  BY  MIECI8LAW  REYZNER. 

“ MORNING.” 


19 


FROM  A PAINTING  BY  CASPAR  RITTER. 

“CONSOLATION  IN  SONG.” 

Correggio,  of  Giorgione,  Raphael,  Ribera,  and  the  other  masters  of  the  great  art 
revival  of  Italy,  are  ripe  with  the  ripeness  of  centuries.  Their  splendors  have 
ceased  to  be  mere  matters  of  rare  artistic  skill,  and  they  have  taken  their  places 
among  the  classics  of  art.  So,  too,  each  in  their  degree,  have  the  masterpieces 
of  Rembrandt,  Rubens,  and  Vandyck,  in  the  Netherlands;  those  of  Watteau, 
Boucher,  Poussin,  Mignard,  Lebrun  in  France;  of  Diirer,  Holbein,  and  the  rest, 

20 


in  Germany;  and  of  the  Spanish  masters,  at  whose  head  stood  Velasquez  and 
Murillo.  The  same  world-wide  recognition  has  been  accorded  to  the  productions 
of  the  early  English  school,  over  which  reigned  the  geniuses  of  Reynolds,  Gains- 
borough, and  Romney.  Only  less  famous  because  they  are  nearer  our  own  day 
are  the  works  of  the  painters  of  the  art  revolution  in  France,  and  of  those  who, 
like  Kaulbach  and  his  contemporaries,  re-created  the  art  of  Germany.  It  has  re- 
mained for  “ Modern  Figure  Painting”  to  do  for  the  men  of  the  end  of  the  nine- 
teenth century,  what  an  army  of  historians,  biographers,  and  critics  have  done  for 
their  predecessors. 

The  art  of  the  present,  and  especially  that  of  the  painter  of  the  figure,  is  part 
of  the  life  of  the  present.  The  methods  and  inspirations  of  the  artist  have  changed, 
just  as  our  methods  of  living  have  changed  from  those  of  our  forefathers.  The 
world  progresses  ceaselessly  in  all  things,  and  in  none  has  its  progress  been  more 
distinct  and  marked  than  in  the  arts.  Literature,  music,  sculpture,  painting,  have 
kept  pace  with  the  enormous  strides  in  advance  made  by  science  and  invention. 
The  end  of  the  last  century,  the  last  twenty-five  years  of  it,  that  is  to  say,  revolu- 
tionized the  world.  The  American  War  of  Independence  created  an  epoch,  and 
its  results  completely  changed  the  traditional  conditions  of  the  globe,  for  they 
reached  even  into  the  remotest  strongholds  of  immemorial  barbarism,  and  moulded 
nations  out  of  what  had  been  a chaos.  The  same  period  of  the  nineteenth  century 
will  go  into  history  with  a similar  record,  and  in  the  credit  for  it  art  will  bear  its 
important  share;  and  the  share  in  it  of  the  art  of  the  modern  figure  painter  will 
not  be  the  least. 


FROM  A PAINTING  BY  A.  AXILETTE. 

“SUMMERTIME.” 

n 


The  Germans  have  achieved  some  of  their  greatest  successes  in  the  art  of  fig- 
ure painting  with  subjects  derived  from  that  legendary  lore  in  which  their  country 
is  so  rich.  Among  the  artists  whom  this  world  of  phantoms  has  enchanted,  prob- 
ably the  foremost  is  William  Kray.  He  is  no  stranger  to  the  art  lovers  of 
America,  for  his  paintings  have  long  been  popular  in  this  country,  and  are  to  be 
found  in  most  of  our  prominent  private  collections.  He  was  born  in  Berlin,  and 
Degan  his  studies  there,  afterward  residing  for  a long  time  in  Rome  and  Venice. 


FROM  A PAINTING  BY  WILLIAM  KRAY. 

THE  DANCE  OF  THE  WILL  O’  THE  WISPS. 


Ultimately  he  returned  to  Germany  and  settled  in  Vienna,  where  he  speedily  won 
distinction.  In  “ The  Dance  of  the  Will  o’  the  Wisps”  he  renders  a poetic  version 
of  the  old  legend  of  the  wildfires,  the  gleaming  spirits  of  marsh  and  fen.  The 
late  Charles  Chaplin  was  born  at  Andelys,  in  the  Department  of  the  Eure,  France,, 
of  an  English  father  and  a French  mother,  in  1825.  At  the  age  of  fourteen  he 
became  a pupil  of  the  painter  Drolling  in  Paris,  and  settled  in  Auvergne  to  be- 
come a landscape  painter.  But  the  figure  had  an  irresistible  attraction  for  him, 
and  like  Kray,  who  also  commenced  by  painting  landscapes,  he  gradually  aban- 
doned his  first  choice  of  pursuit  for  the  nobler  and  more  enticing  one.  His  suc- 

22 


FROM  * PAINTINO  By  MLLE.  DIANA  COOMAN8. 

THE  SPINNER. 

cess  as  a painter  of  portraits,  and  especially  of  portraits  of  women,  continued 
until  his  death.  Meanwhile  he  painted  many  imaginative  compositions,  in  the 
coquettish  and  seductive  style  of  Boucher,  to  which  class  “ The  Lyre”  belongs, 

24 


FROM  A PAINTING  BY  E.  RICHTER. 

AT  HER  EASE-GRENADA. 


25 


i m iH \ 


FROM  A PAINTING  BY  LEON  HERBO. 

“CHERRIES  OR  ROSES?” 

and  executed  decorative  work  for  great  mansions  and  palaces,  especially  for 
the  Tuileries,  the  Elysee,  etc.  Chaplin  died,  very  rich,  two  years  ago.  He 
had  been  an  Officer  of  the  Legion  of  Honor  since  1877.  P.  L.  Bouchard  is  a 
French  artist,  of  what  some  critic  has  classified  as  the  School  of  Gerome.  He 
is  a Parisian,  and  made  his  studies  at  the  Ecole  des  Beaux  Arts  in  the  class  over 
which  M.  Gerome  exercised  direction.  In  “ After  the  Bath”  he  shows  the  interior 
of  a bathing  room,  where  the  favorite  of  the  harem  has  been  making  her  ablu- 
tions. M.  Bouchard  is,  as  a draughtsman  and  colorist,  and  in  his  style  of  painting, 
one  of  the  foremost  of  living  French  artists. 

Some  of  the  ablest  of  modern  German  painters  have  of  late  years  turned  their 
eyes  to  the  Orient  for  subjects,  and  among  the  most  successful  of  these  is  E. 
Richter,  of  Berlin.  He  is  a graduate  of  the  Munich  Art  Academy,  and  his  renditions 
of  the  supple  charms  of  the  beauties  of  the  harem  have  been  widely  distributed  by 
reproduction  in  various  forms.  In  “At  Her  Ease”  he  gives  a scene  from  the 
Alhambra  at  Grenada,  where  he  made  many  studies  in  the  famous  old  palace  of  the 
Moorish  kings,  which  the  Spanish  Government  preserves  as  a species  of  national 
monument.  It  is  one  of  the  queens  of  the  royal  harem  who  awaits  the  coming  of 
her  lover.  She  stands  in  the  doorway  opening  on  a balconied  staircase,  holding  in 
her  hand  the  rose,  the  flower  of  love,  which  has  been  sent  her  as  a token.  In  her 
splendid  dress,  enriched  with  costly  jewels,  her  attitutfe  and  expression,  she  affords 

26 


a perfect  picture  of  the  refined  type  of  voluptuous  Oriental  seductiveness.  As 
a portrait  painter  Richter  enjoys  an  enviable  reputation.  Leon  Herbo  is  a 
Parisian,  whose  works  are  well  known  at  the  Salon  exhibitions.  He  was  first 


LOVE  WINS. 

27 


rplOM  A PAINTING  BY  GUSTAVE  COURTOIS. 

ELAINE. 

presented  to  the  public  by  ambitious  compositions  of  the  style  usual  to  students 
of  the  art  schools,  but  presently  began  to  make  a reputation  as  a portrait 
painter.  In  the  intervals  of  his  engagements  in  this  department  of  art,  he  pro- 
duced pictures  of  the  manner  of  subject  of  “Cherries  and  Roses,”  and  as  these 
found  increasing  favor,  and  secured  him  commissions  for  the  decoration  of  the 
mansions  of  wealthy  Parisians,  he  gradually  increased  his  productiveness  in  this 
direction,  and  through  it  he  is  best  known  to  the  world  at  large.  The  old  Greek 
legend  of  the  Sirens  has  attracted  many  artists,  and  resulted  in  the  creation  of 
many  admirable  pictures,  from  races  not  dreamed  of  when  Ulysses  sailed  upon  his 
voyage  in  quest  of  the  golden  fleece.  In  the  composition  of  Adolphe  La  Lyre, 
who  is  an  esteemed  artist  of  the  modern  school  in  Paris,  to  which  city  he  belongs, 
the  tradition  finds  a quite  original  and  individual  interpretation.  La  Lyre,  a 
painter  educated  in  the  Bouguereau  class  at  the  Paris  Art  Academy,  somewhat  fol- 
lows his  master  in  correct  drawing  and  pure  color,  but  has  quite  an  individual  style. 

Like  his  twin  brother,  the  distinguished  artist  Jean  Benner,  Emmanuel  Benner 
commenced  his  life  as  a designer  for  the  mills  and  factories  of  Mulhouse  in  Alsace, 
where  he  was  born  in  1836.  At  the  age  of  thirty,  having  amassed  some  means  by 
strict  economy,  he  devoted  himself  entirely  to  art,  his  masters  in  painting  being 
Eck,  Henner,  a fellow  Alsatian;  and  L£on  Bonnat.  He  at  first  painted  pictures  of 
still  life,  portraits,  and  genre  subjects,  and  commenced  exhibiting  at  the  Salon  in 
1868.  In  1875  he  struck  out  in  a new  direction,  and  his  masterly  paintings  of  the 
nude  won  him  immediate  favor.  The  character  of  his  art  has  been  sufficiently 
adverted  to  in  Part  I.  of  this  work.  Benner  won  his  first  Salon  medal  in  1881,  with 
a picture  very  similar  in  character  to  “The  Sleeper,”  which  was  entitled  “ Le 
Repos.” 

28 


FROM  A PAINTING  BY  MLLE.  HEVA  COOMANS. 

A POMPEIIAN  FLOWER  GIRL. 

The  late  Joseph  Coomans  was  one  of  the  most  popular  of  European  painters 
with  American  collectors,  and  the  sale  of  his  works  in  this  country  alone  made  him 
a very  rich  man.  He  was  a native  of  Brussels,  and  a pupil  of  Professor  Hasselaere 

29 


at  Ghent,  and  of  Nicaise  de  Keyser  and  Baron  Wappers  at  the  Antwerp  Academy. 
From  Antwerp  he  removed  to  Paris,  and  going  with  the  French  army  to  Algiers, 
where  he  resided  several  years,  he  later  travelled  extensively  in  Italy,  Turkey, 
Greece,  and  the  Crimea.  At  this  time  he  painted  historical  and  portrait  subjects, 
but  in  1857  he  visited  Italy,  and  became  interested  in  the  remains  of  ancient  Pom- 


FrfOM  A PAINTING  BY  U V.  OU RANGEL. 

THE  BUTT  ERNIES. 

30 


\W  THE  HAREM. 

„ ,rm; 

« 


FROM  A PA'NTING  BY  JULES  GARNIER. 


PROM  A PAINTING  BY  CHARLES  LANDELLE. 

REBECCA. 


peii,  which  were  then  being  excavated.  From  this  time  forth  he  took  up  the  line  of 
subjects  which  made  him  famous.  He  had  two  daughters,  both  of  whom  possessed 
remarkable  artistic  gifts,  and  who,  as  his  pupils,  became  well-known  painters.  Some 

32 


PAINTING  BY  FRANCOIS  LAFON. 


THE  THRACIAN  WOMEN  SPURNING  THE  BODY  OF  ORPHEUS. 
33 


years  before  his  death  he 
visited  America,  residing 
here  for  a prolonged  pe- 
riod, and  his  daughters 
accompanied  him  and  be- 
came favorites  in  the  best 
New  York  society.  Both 
Miss  Heva  Coomans  and 
her  sister  Diana  paint  the 
same  class  of  subjects 
as  their  father,  and  very 
much  in  his  manner  and 
feeling  of  color.  In  “ The 
Pompeiian  Flower  Girl” 
is  presented  an  extremely 
characteristic  example  of 
one  talented  daughter  of 
a famous  parent. 

One  of  the  younger 
Frenchmen  who  have  at- 
tracted attention  at  the 
great  exhibitions  is  the 
painter  of  “A  Bather.” 
He  comes  of  artistic 
stock,  at  the  head  of 
which  stood  the  famous 
painter  of  animals,  and 
one  of  the  greatest  etch- 
ers the  world  has  pro- 
duced, Auguste  Lan^on, 
and  is  a graduate  of  the 
Paris  Art  School.  An- 
other and  much  stronger 
man,  in  whose  death  a 
few  years  ago  French  art 
sustained  a serious  loss, 
was  Jules  Ars&ne  Gar- 
nier,  a Parisian,  born  in 
1847.  He  commenced  his 
studies  at  the  Academy 
of  Toulouse,  one  of  the 
best  in  Furone,  painted 


FROM  A PAINTING  S')  JAMES  BERTRAND. 

THE  GRASSHOPPER  SINGING  TO  THE  MOON. 


34 


under  J.  L.  Gerome.in  Paris,  and  travelled  much  in  Holland,  Spain,  and  Morocco, 
from  which  latter  source  his  “ In  the  Harem”  is  derived.  Among  the  most  emi- 
nent of  French  figure  painters  of  the  older  school  was  Charles  Landelle,  who  was 
born  at  Laval,  in  Mayenne,  in  1821,  and  was  a pupil  of  Paul  Delaroche  and  Ary 
Scheffer.  He  never  equalled  either  of  his  masters  in  power  of  expression,  but 
possessed  a soft  and  pleasing  style  of  his  own.  His  life  was  extremely  success- 
ful as  a painter  of  easel  pictures,  portraits,  and  decorative  compositions,  and 
examples  of  him  are  to  be  found  in  all  the  museums  of  Paris  and  the  departments 


FROM  A PAINTING  BY  P.  FRANC 


A FANTASY. 

35 


FROM  A PAINTING  BY  JULES  BRETON. 

THE  GLEANER. 

1C  * 

of  France,  and  in  many  of  the  best  American  collections.  The  “ Rebecca”  is  one 
of  his  pictures  purchased  by  the  Government.  Landelle  was  repeatedly  medalled 
from  1842  down,  and  in  1855  was  received  into  the  Legion  of  Honor  for  his 
picture  “The  Virgin  Resting,”  which  now  hangs  in  the  Louvre. 

Of  all  the  legends  of  classic  antiquity  that  of  Orpheus  is,  perhaps,  the  most 
contradictory.  The  painter  in  this  instance  has  adopted  the  most  popular  version. 
According  to  it,  the  son  of  Apollo  and  Calliope,  having  been  struck  dead  by  a 
thunderbolt  hurled  by  Zeus,  as  a punishment  for  revealing  the  divine  mysteries, 

36 


his  corpse  is  rejoiced  over  and  spurned  by  the  Thracian  women,  whose  love,  which 
he  aroused  by  the  fascinations  of  his  magic  lyre,  he  had  scorned.  The  artist,  Fran- 
cois Lafon,  is  the  son  of  the  well-known  painter  Emile  Jacques  Lafon,  born  in 
1817,  who  died  in  Paris  in  1886.  Francois  Lafon  was  born  in  Paris  and  was  a 
pupil  of  his  father,  who  had  been  in  his  turn  a student  under  Delaroche  and  Baron 


FROM  A PAINTING  BY  LUIS  FALERO. 

THE  BELATED  WITCH. 


Gros.  James  Bertrand,  who  was  born  at  Lyons,  first  studied  there  under  Bonne- 
fond,  and  liter  in  Paris  under  Perin  and  Orsel,  and  at  the  Ecole  des  Beaux  Arts. 
From  Paris  he  went  to  Rome  and  painted  many  Italian  and  religious  subjects,  with 
which. he  won  his  first  medal  in  1861.  At  the  Salon  of  1882  his  poetic  rendition 
of  the  fable  of  the  grasshopper  was  one  of  the  pictures  of  the  year.  P.  Franc 
Lamy  and  Louis  Paul,  the  painters  respectively  of  “ A Fantasy”  and  “ Harem 
Fruits  and  Flowers, ’’  belong  to  the  younger  generation  of  modern  French  artists, 
which  has  produced  such  strong  representatives.  The  first  named  has  won  honors 
at  the  Salon,  where  both  are  regular  exhibitors.  Luis  Falero  is  one  of  the  most 
distinguished  and  original  artists  of  our  day.  Although  he  has  his  studio  in  Paris, 
he  was  born  at  Grenada  in  Spain,  in  1851.  He  was  intended  for  the  Spanish 
navy,  and  was  carefully  educated  to  that  end  in  Madrid,  England,  and  Paris.  In 
“The  Belated  Witch”  he  gives  a fanciful  episode  of  the  old  German  legend  that 
at  certain  periods  the  witches  and  warlocks  hold  a general  holiday  or  Sabbath 
among  the  Brocken  Mountains.  Here  one  of  the  accursed  sisterhood,  who  has 
neglected  her  opportunity  to  join  the  common  parade  to  the  rendezvous,  sails  out 
of  a chimney  on  her  journey  alone,  mounted  on  her  broomstick,  the  traditional 
steed  of  the  sworn  servitors  of  Satan. 


87 


To  arrive  at  a just  and  comprehensive  understanding  of  any  artist’s  talent, 
it  is  often  necessary  to  examine  him  in  more  than  one  example,  according  to  the 
scope  his  fancy  may  take,  in  the  adaptation  of  his  powers  to  a varied  range  of  sub- 
jects. Consequently,  when  a name  reappears  in  these  pages,  the  reader  can  refer, 
for  general  biographical  information,  to  the  part  in  which  it  was  first  mentioned, 
as  in  the  present  case  of  William  Kray,  the  initial  specimen  of  whose  brush  was 
presented  in  Part  II.  In  this  example,  “The  Water-Nixes’  Victim,”  while  the 
material  is  derived  from  the  same  romantic  source  as  the  one  previously  given, 
it  is  entirely  different  in  character  of  subject  and  in  treatment.  Otto  Lingner 
is  one  of  the  younger  German  artists  of  the  Munich  school,  so  many  of  whom 
are  now  coming  to  the  front,  and  his  picture  was  one  of  the  features  of  the  Exhi- 
bition of  1892  at  the  Bavarian  royal  city  and  art  capital.  It  combines  most 
happily  the  qualities  of  imaginative  conception  and  realistic  execution,  which 
are  demanded  by  the  established  standard  of  modern  creative  art.  Emile  Munier 
is  a French  painter,  born  in  Paris,  and  a pupil  of  A.  Lucas  and  Bouguereau, 
whose  light  and  fanciful  allegorical  pictures  enjoy  an  immense  popularity.  They 


FROM  A PAINTING  BY  W.  KRAY. 


THE  WATER-NIXES’  VICTIM. 


NIGHT. 


FROM  A PAINTING  BY  E.  MUNIER. 

CUPID  DISARMED. 

always  tell  their  story  clearly,  and  with  a pleasantly  humorous  touch  to  it,  are 
well  conceived  and  graceful  in  drawing,  and  agreeable  in  color.  His  “ Cupid 
Disarmed”  is  an  instance  in  point,  possessing  as  it  does  all  the  qualities  which 
have  rendered  the  artist  a favorite  with  the  public.  Venus,  at  sport  with  her 
tricksy  offspring,  has  playfully  deprived  him  of  the  weapons  of  which  he  makes 

40 


FROM  A PAINTING  B»  LUIS  FALERO. 


THE  PLANET  VENUS. 

41 


PROM  A PAINTING  BY  N.  SICHEL. 

SUMMER. 


such  extensive  and  often  wanton  and  mischievous  use,  and  laughs  at  his  ineffectual 
efforts  to  recover  them.  Cupid  deprived  of  his  weapon  is,  indeed,  rendered  harm- 
less, but  the  time  has  yet  to  come  when  the  goddess  will  actually  execute  her  threat, 
and  convert  her  jest  to  earnest.  Quite  another  personification  of  the  same  deity  is 


THE  HIERODULES. 

43 


that  given  by  the  Spanish  master  Luis  Falero,  in  “The  Planet  Venus.”  This  is 
one  of  the  pictures  of  what  might  be  called  his  astronomical  series,  which  so 
materially  assisted  in  establishing  his  reputation  as  a great  imaginative  artist.  In 
his  hand  the  goddess  becomes  a gloriously  voluptuous  creation,  dazzling  in  the  splen- 
dor of  her  perpetual  youth  and  beauty,  which  radiate  a light  like  an  electric  flame. 
In  “Summer”  we  have  one  of  the  beautiful  ideal  female  types  of  Nathaniel  Sichel, 
who  was  introduced  to  the  reader  in  Part  I.  The  Hierodules  were  one  form  of  the 
mythological  type  of  enchantresses  which  we  know  in  modern  times  as  the  Sirens. 
As  in  all  the  representations  of  the  legend  in  modern  art,  M.  Edouard  Rosset 
Granger  endows  them  with  the  beauty  of  perfect  womanhood,  whereas  the  ancient 
form  given  them  was  in  one  case  that  of  a mermaid,  and  in  the  other  of  half  wo- 
men and  half  birds.  The  artist  is  a Parisian,  whose  pictures  in  this  field  have 
been  numerous  and  very  successful,  both  as  works  of  art  and  in  point  of  popularity. 
In  drawing,  color,  composition,  and  selection  of  subjects,  his  works  show  him  to 
have  studied  the  school  of  Bouguereau,  Boulanger,  and  Lefebvre  to  advantage. 
The  artist  was,  in  fact,  however,  a student  under  Cabanel,  Dubufe,  and  Mazerolle. 
The  Pierrette  is  a favorite  ball  masquerade  with  the  modern  Parisiennes,  one 
of  whom  is  delineated,  in  character,  by  an  appreciative  brush  in  that  of  Alexander 
Jacques  Chantron.  Chantron  was  born  at  Nantes  and  is  a pupil  of  Picot.  In 


FROM  A PAINTING  BY  A.  J.  CHANTRON. 


PIERRETTE. 


“Venus  Appearing  to  the  Three  Graces”  is  presented  another  characteristic  ex- 
ample of  Emmanuel  Benner,  and  the  “Algerian  Water-Girl,”  carrying  her  brazen 
water-pitcher  to  the  palace  fountain,  is  another  specimen  of  the  brush  of  Charles 
Landelle.  “The  Circassian’s  Toilette”  is  a brilliant  work,  in  his  best  vein,  of  a 
French  artist  of  exceptional  powers  of  their  kind.  Jacquesson  de  la  Chevreuse, 
who  comes  of  a family  of  the  old  French  nobility,  devoted  himself  to  art,  and  by 

45 


FROM  A PAINTING  BY  EMMANUEL  BENNER. 

VENUS  APPEARING  TO  THE  THREE  GRACES. 


CUPID  AND  PSYCHE. 


FROM  A PAINTING  BY  N.  SICHEL. 

DEBORAH. 

47 


FROM  A PAINTING  BY  8.  ARC08. 

THE  ABDUCTION  OF  CHLORIS  BY  BOREAS. 


48 


FROM  A PAINTING  BY  E.  VON  BLAAS. 

ANGIOLINA. 

family  influence  and  means  was  enabled  to  make  extensive  travels,  whose  results 
are  profitably  applied  in  his  pictures. 

Santiago  Arcos,  the  painter  of  “The  Abduction  of  Chloris  by  Boreas,”  is  an 
artist  of  Spanish  birth,  but  a pupil  in  Paris  of  Bonnat  and  of  Madrazo,  and  has  his 
home  in  that  city.  He  became  first  known  as  a portrait  painter,  and  enjoyed  an 
sxtensive  patronage,  but  found  time,  in  intervals  between  his  commissions,  to 
execute  pictures  of  a character  of  subject  to  demonstrate  that  he  was  an  artist  of  a 
fecund  imagination  and  a free  and  powerful  brush.  Eugen  von  Blaas  is  the  elder 

49 


: . - 


FROM  A PAINTING  BY  ANDRE  BROUILLET. 

THE  HAMMOCK. 

of  two  sons,  both  artists,  of  the  eminent  Austrian  historical  painter  Karl  Ritter 
von  Blaas.  He  was  born  in  Italy,  during  his  father’s  professional  residence  there, 
in  1843,  and  was  at  first  the  pupil  of  his  father,  afterward  studying  at  the 
Academies  of  Venice,  Vienna,  and  Paris,  and  travelling  in  Belgium  and  Eng- 
land. At  all  the  academies  in  which  he  studied  he  was  a winner  of  high  prizes, 

51 


FROM  A PAINTING  BY  W.  AMBERG. 

SORROWFUL  THOUGHTS. 


and  he  now  resides  permanently  in  Venice,  where  he  finds  most  of  the  subjects  of 
his  pictures,  of  which  “ Angiolina,”  a thorough  type  of  a Venetian  girl  of  the  poorer 
class,  is  a good  example.  His  more  ambitious  works  belong  to  the  genre  order. 
His  brother,  Julius  B.  Blaas,  is  a popular  animal  painter.  Louis  Frederick 
Schutzenberger  was  born  in  Strasburg,  while  Alsace  was  a French  province,  so  he 
ranks  as  a French  painter.  He  was  a pupil  of  Daguerre,  and  is  an  energetic 
draughtsman  and  good  colorist,  with  much  originality  of  ideas  and  execution. 
His  pictures  have  gained  for  him  admission  into  the  Legion  of  Honor.  “ The 
Drowsy  Bacchante”  gives  an  excellent  idea  of  his  able  and  vigorous  treatment  of 

52 


the  human  figure,  and  his  command  of  his  material.  The  figure  is  a masterly  study 
of  form,  attitude  and  expression,  and  the  original  painting  is  a superb  piece  of  color. 

The  greatest  modern  master  of  figure  painting,  at  least  in  the  academic  sense, 
William  Adolphe  Bouguereau,  was  born  at  La  Rochelle,  in  the  Gironde,  in  1825. 
When  he  was  seventeen  years  old,  he  had  saved  enough  out  of  his  earnings  to 
carry  him  to  Paris  and  support  him  there  for  a year.  On  this  capital  he  became 
a pupil  of  Picot,  and  in  1843  entered  as  a student  into  the  Ecole  des  Beaux  Arts, 
until  in  1850  he  won  the  great  prize  scholarship  known  as  the  Prix  de  Rome, 
which  entitled  him  to  study  four  years  in  Italy  at  the  expense  of  the  Govern- 
ment. He  became  an  Officer  of  the  Legion  of  Honor.  He  was  elected  a mem- 
ber of  the  Institute.  He  was  made  honorary  member  of  all  the  great  art  acade- 
mies of  Europe.  He  was  loaded  with  medals,  until  they  formed  a unique  collec- 
tion in  themselves.  William  Amberg  is  a native  of  Berlin,  born  in  1822,  and,  be- 
ginning as  a pupil  of  Professor  von  Herbig,  later  became  a student  under  the 
eminent  artist  Karl  Begas.  He  then  studied  in  Paris  in  the  studio  of  Cogniet, 
worked  among  the  galleries  in  Italy,  especially  in  Rome  and  Venice,  to  good 
effect,  and  then  returned  to  his  native  country,  where  he  found  no  lack  of  patron- 
age. Jules  Frederic  Ballavoine,  who  is  a Parisian  by  birth,  and  has  had  his  share 
of  Salon  honors,  is  a pupil  of  Pils,  who  was  the  master  of  so  many  French  artists 
of  the  foremost  talent.  His  “ Lassitude”  is  a model  in  its  department  of  his  art. 


FROM  A PAINTING  BY  J.  F.  BALLAVOINE. 


LASSITUDE. 


IV. 


The  fable  of  that  imaginary  inhabitant  of  the  sea,  the  mermaid,  is  as  old  as 
fable  itself.  In  one  form  or  another  it  exists  throughout  the  world.  The  islanders 
of  the  Indian  Ocean  and  the  South  Sea;  the  Esquimaux  of  the  North  and  the 
Patagonians  of  the  South,  as  well  as  the  coast  and  maritime  nations  of  the  civilized 


FROM  A PAINTING  BY  W.  KRAY. 

AN  IDYL  OF  THE  SEA. 

world,  have  each  their  special  version  of  the  tale.  It  was,  unquestionably,  the 
foundation  for  the  myths  of  the  sirens,  tritons,  nereids,  and  the  like  in  classic  an- 
tiquity. Science,  with  its  usual  pitiless  adherence  to  demonstrable  facts,  has  traced 
its  origin  to  those  curious  marine  animals  of  which  the  seals  and  sea-lions  are  the 
most  familiar  types,  but  art  does  not  permit  science  to  rob  it  of  its  picturesque 
material,  and  with  the  painters  the  mermaid  retains  its  legendary  shape  and  attrac- 
tiveness, and  the  world  which  loves  pictures  has  no  occasion  to  regret  the  fact.  It 
has  furnished  the  German  artist,  William  Kray,  with  a charming  motive,  which  he 
most  charmingly  works  out  in  his“  Idyl  of  the  Sea.”  With  him  the  mermaiden  be- 
comes a mermother,  who  sports  in  the  waves  with  her  baby  mounted  on  her  back. 
The  baby  is  altogether  human  in  form,  however,  so  that  the  picture  may  safely  be 


54 


FROM  A PAINTING  BY  C.  CHAPLIN. 

OFFERINGS  TO  VENUS. 


assumed  to  be  founded  on  the  old 
German  legend  of  the  mermaid 
who  married  a fisherman,  and  bred 
a human  family.  In  any  way  it 
may  be  interpreted,  “ An  Idyl  of 
the  Sea”  is  intrinsically  a delight- 
ful work. 

Quite  as  realistic  as  Kray’s 
picture  is  poetic  is  “ The  Awaken- 
ing,” by  Ernest  Berger,  an  artist 
of  Berlin.  Here  we  have  the  inte- 
rior of  a harem,  with  a Georgian 
favorite  of  the  ripest  and  most 
alluring  beauty,  rousing  herself 
from  the  nap  which  she  has  taken 
after  her  bath.  Her  attitude  and 
expression  have  about  them  the 
lithe  grace  suggestive  of  a cat, 
when  it  stretches  itself  after  awak- 
ening from  sleep.  The  painter  is 
a German  of  entirely  modern  im- 
pulses and  methods,  rather  in  sym- 
pathy with  the  French  school  than 
that  of  his  own  nation.  One  steps 
from  the  harem  to  the  home  in  the 
picture  by  E.  Tobias,  “The  Little 
Housekeeper,”  a naive  and  attrac- 
tive episode  of  child  life,  all  the 
more  delightful  for  the  pleasant 
simplicity  with  which  it  is  repre- 
sented. “The  Double  Star,”  by 
Luis  Falero,  is  another  of  his  won- 
derful adaptions  of  a suggestion  of 
astronomical  science  to  the  uses  of 
art.  The  original  picture  was  a 
sensation  of  the  Salon  of  1881. 
When  Aphrodite  was  born  of  the 
sea  foam,  as  the  mythologies  in- 
form us,  she  landed  at  Cythera, 
which  received  the  newly  created 
goddess  with  proper  hospitality. 
She  requited  this  welcome  by  tak- 


55 


ing  the  island  into  her  favor,  and  it  was  made  sacred  to  her,  and  altars  and 
temples  in  her  honor  erected.  From  this  early  association,  the  name  Cytheraea 
was  frequently  applied  to  the  patron  deity  of  the  place.  The  artist,  Lionel  Royer, 
was  born  in  the  department  of  Sarthe,  at  Chateau-du-Loire,  and  studied  art  under 
Alexander  Cabanel.  He  made  his  d£but  as  a religious  painter,  in  1879,  with  a 

56 


THE  LITTLE  HOUSEKEEPER. 


FROM  A PAINTING  BY  LUIS  FALERO. 


THE  DOUBLE  STAR. 

57 


FROM  A PAINTING  BY  LIONEL  ROYER. 


CYTHER/tA. 

58 


FROM  A PAINTING  BY  JOS:  PH  LIECK. 

SILENT  HAPPINESS. 


picture  of  “Christ  on  the  Cross,”  and  has  since  painted  chiefly  secular  historical 
subjects  and  mythological  motives.  He  received  his  first  medal  in  1884.  Joseph 
Lieck,  of  Berlin,  is  one  of  the  popular  German  artists  of  to-day.  He  is  a Prussian, 
and  a graduate  of  the  Berlin  Academy,  and  has  been  especially  successful  in  his 
delineation  of  the  softer  and  more  tender  types  of  feminine  beauty. 

Blaise  Bukovac  is  a Dalmatian  from  Ragusa-Vecchia,  born  in  1855,  but  a 
thorough  Parisian  by  adoption.  He  visited  France  as  a student,  and  enrolled  him- 

59 


self  among  the  pupils  of  the  Cabanel  studio.  He  has  painted  many  pictures  repre- 
senting famous  heroines  in  a certain  class  of  French  novels,  as  “ Nana,”  from  Zola, 
“Sappho,”  from  Daudet,  “La  Grande  Iza,”  from  Alexis  Bouvier,  etc.  Much  of 
his  productiveness,  however,  has  been  in  the  line  of  decorative  subjects,  for  which 


FROM  A 'MIN TING  BY  B.  BUKOVAC. 


THE  FLOWER. 

60 


PSYCHE  AND  ZEPHYR, 


his  taste  and  talent  peculiarly  fit  him.  Of  this  **  The  Flower”  may  serve  as  a cap- 
ital indication.  The  story  of  Andromeda,  which  has  furnished  Mile.  Marguerite 
Arosa  with  a subject,  is  a familiar  one.  The  artist  was  born  in  Paris,  and  studied 

62 


FROM  A PAINTING  BY  CHARLES  LANDELLE. 

THE  DARBOUKA  PLAYER. 


PSYCHE. 


successively  under  Mayer,  Amand-Gautier,  and  Barrias,  and  is  a capable  painter 
of  portraits,  as  well  as  genre  and  imaginative  subjects.  In  “The  Darbouka 
Player"  is  presented  another  of  the  Oriental  subjects  of  Charles  Landelle.  The 
darbouka  is  the  Turkish  drum,  by  whose  taps  the  movements  of  the  dancing  girls  are 
timed  during  a performance.  In  “An  Old  Friend,”  by  A.  Duval,  a young  girl, 
just  budding  into  womanhood,  sits  at  her  bath,  contemplating  her  pet  doll.  It  is 


FROM  A PAINTING  BY  N.  8ICHEL. 


A ROMAN  GIRL. 


a moment  of  parting.  Its  young  mistress  is  making  her  toilette  for  her  entree 
into  the  great  world;  she  is  to  make  her  debut  in  society  to-night,  and  the  doll’s 
days  of  favor  are  over.  “A  Roman  Girl,”  by  Nathaniel  Sichel,  once  more  places 
this  favorite  Berlin  painter  on  record,  and  in  a most  favorable  manner. 

The  character  of  Lais  is  one  of  those  which  have  come  down  to  us  from  an- 
tiquity subject  to  debate.  As  the  generally  accepted  story  goes,  then,  Lais  was 
born  in  Corinth,  and  sat  as  a model  for  the  painter  Apelles.  She  was  said  to 
possess  the  most  graceful  figure  of  any  woman  of  her  time  in  Greece,  and  held  her 
court  as  a courtesan  to  a host  of  admirers.  She  was  capricious  with  all,  however, 
insatiably  greedy  for  money  and  jewels,  and  ready  to  gratify  her  rapacity  by  any 


means,  fair  or  foul.  Ultimately  she  was  stoned  to  death  by  the  Thessalian  women, 
and  condemned  to  perpetual  torment  in  Hades.  The  picture  represents  her,  ac- 
cording to  the  version  of  her  fate  given  by  Dante  in  his  “Inferno,”  chained  to  a 
rock,  and  bedecked  with  the  jewels  which  she  committed  such  crimes  to  amass,  with 
Virgil  explaining  her  story  to  Dante.  The  artist,  Gustave  Courtois,  was  born  in 
1852  at  Pusey,  in  the  Haute-Saone.  He  became  a pupil  of  Gerome,  and  in  1876 
made  his  debut  at  the  Salon  with  two  pictures.  His  “ Lais”  was  shown  there  in 
1878,  and  he  followed  it  with  other  successful  pictures  based  on  Dante’s  great 
poem,  for  which  he  has  received  several  medals. 

The  gynaecium  was,  in  ancient  Greek  and  Roman  houses,  the  special  apart- 

65 


LAIS  IN  HADES. 


ment  of  the  women,  where  they  worked  and  lounged,  and  where  the  children 
wlayed.  It  was  the  most  secluded  room  in  the  house,  and  was  jealously  guarded 
from  intrusion.  Miss  Diana  Coomans’  picture  gives  a glimpse  at  this  sanctuary  of 
her  sex  in  a Pompeiian  mansion.  The  painter  is  one  of  two  daughters  of  the  late 
Joseph  Coomans,  the  artist,  and  like  her  sister  was  a pupil  and  is  a follower  of  her 

CG 


FROM  A PAINTING  BY  MLLE.  DIANA  COOMANS. 

IN  THE  GYN/ECIUM. 


father  in  subjects  and  methods  of  painting.  “April”  is  typified  by  Jacquesson  de 
la  Chevreuse  as  a lovely  woman,  embowered  in  the  blossoms  of  an  apple  tree.  It 
was  the  picture  which  represented  him  in  the  Salon  of  1893,  and  materially  added 
to  his  reputation. 

France  points  with  pride  to  Jules-Joseph  Lefebvre  as  one  of  the  foremost  of 
her  great  figure  painters,  in  many  points  the  rival  of  Bouguereau,  and  in  depth  of 
sentiment  and  feeling  undoubtedly  his  superior.  Lefebvre  was  born  in  the  Seine- 
et-Marne,  at  Tournan,  in  1836.  At  the  age  of  sixteen  he  arrived  in  Paris,  bearing 
a letter  of  recommendation  from  Monsignor  Salinis,  Bishop  of  Amiens,  to  Paulin 
Guerin,  the  professor  of  drawing  at  the  Juilly  school.  Guerin  introduced  him  to 
Leon  Cogniet,  who  received  him  into  his  studio,  where  he  commenced  to  study. 
His  only  means  of  support  was  a pension  granted  him  by  the  city  of  Amiens,  of 
1,000  francs  per  annum  for  five  years.  He  hoped,  before  this  term  expired,  to  win 
the  Prix  de  Rome,  but  was  doomed  to  disappointment.  Three  times  he  competed 
for  the  prize  and  lost  it.  At  the  end  of  1859  his  pension  expired,  but  he  managed 


FROM  A PAINTING  BY  JULES  LEFEBVRE. 

DIANA  SURPRISED  AT  THE  BATH. 

to  sell  a few  pictures  and  paint  some  portraits.  In  i860  he  went  up  for  the  Roman 
prize  once  more,  won  it,  and  in  1861  set  out  for  the  Villa  Medici,  the  headquarters 
of  the  French  art  school  in  the  Eternal  City.  He  received  a First  Medal  at  the 
Salon  of  1865,  others  in  1868  and  1870,  and  the  cross  of  the  Legion  of  Honor 
in  the  latter  year.  For  his  exhibits  at  the  Universal  Exposition  of  1878  he  received 

08 


a Grand  Medal  and  was  made  an  Officer  of  the  Legion  of  Honor.  The  following 
year,  at  the  Salon,  appeared  his  “ Diana  Surprised  at  the  Bath.” 

At  Seifert,  the  painter  of  “Under  the  Vine  Leaves,”  is  one  of  the  younger 
generation  of  German  artists  who  studied  and  settled  in  Munich.  His  pictures 
enjoy  much  popularity  in  Germany  and  are  widely  known  through  reproductions. 

69 


FROM  A PAINTING  BY  A.  SEIFERT. 

UNDER  THE  VINE  LEAVES. 


V. 


Some  years  ago  the  management  of  a large  and  popular  hotel  in  this  city,  hav- 
ing added  an  elaborate  public  room  to  the  house,  hit  upon  the  idea  of  attracting 
attention  to  it  by  filling  it  up  with  pictures  and  objects  of  art.  Among  the  former 
the  most  prominent  was  a world-famous,  large  canvas  by  Bouguereau,  the 
“ Nymphs  Teasing  a Satyr,”  as  the  artist  christened  it,  or  “ Nymphs  and  Satyr”  as 
it  is  most  generally  known,  and  the  painting  by  which  Luis  Falero  effectively  estab- 
lished his  reputation,  “The  Vision  of  Faust.”  These  pictures  alone,  and  they 
were  but  part  of  a number  more,  cost  many  thousands  of  dollars.  It  has  been 
estimated,  by  one  of  the  heads  of  the  house,  that  they  alone  have  paid  some  ten 
times  their  cost  in  the  amount  of  custom  they  have  attracted,  and  relatively  to  the 
advance  in  market  value  of  modern  paintings  of  the  first  class,  they  could  now  be 
sold  for  double  what  was  paid  for  them.  The  picture,  in  a technical  sense,  is 
certainly  Falero’s  masterpiece,  as  far  as  his  productiveness  has  yet  proceeded. 

Laurens  Alma-Tadema,  one  of  the  foremost  figure  painters  of  the  century,  and 
one  of  the  most  successful  in  every  material  sense,  was  born  in  Belgium,  at  the 
town  of  Drouryp  in  the  province  of  Friesland,  in  1836.  His  father  was  a notary, 
with  a quite  prosperous  practice,  and,  purposing  that  his  son  should  continue  his 
business,  he  educated  him  with  this  point  in  view.  The  boy  was  sent  to  the  col- 


FROM  A PAINTING  BY  LUIS  FALERO. 


FAUST’S  VISION. 
70 


FROM  A PAINTING  BV  E.  BENNER. 

SUMMER. 


lege  at  Leeuwarden, 
and  in  his  leisure  from 
school  carefully  trained 
to  the  office  duties  of 
his  father’s  profession. 
But  the  art  spirit  woke 
in  him  early,  and  as- 
serted itself  against  all 
parental  objections  and 
restraints.  He  prac- 
tised drawing  secretly. 
He  made  experiments 
in  color.  He  pored  over 
the  engravings  and  the 
old  missals  in  the  col- 
lege and  the  public  li- 
braries. He  was  par- 
ticularly fascinated  at 
the  college  lectures  by 
those  which  related  to 
the  Greek  and  Roman 
antiquity,  and  while  his 
father  believed  that  he 
was  acquiring  the 
knowledge  necessary 
for  a provincial  lawyer, 
he  was  laying  the  foun- 
dations for  a knowledge 
which  was  to  render  him 
a greater  and  wealthier 
man  than  his  plodding 
parent  ever  dreamed  of 
being.  At  last  his  pent- 
up  love  for  art  broke 
forth  with  irresistible 
force.  He  was  sixteen 
years  of  age.  It  was 
time  for  him  to  go  to 
work  in  the  notary’s  of- 
fice. He  refused.  His 
father  yielded  to  his 
supplications,  and  sent 


71 


FROM  A PAINTING  BY  MLLE.  HEVA  COOMAN8. 

A MESSAGE. 

him  to  the  Antwerp  Academy  to  become  a painter.  He  commenced  to  study  at 
Antwerp  in  1852,  when  Wappers  and  Dykmans  were  the  professors  at  the  Academy. 
In  1859  he  left  the  Academy  and  entered  the  studio  of  Baron  Leys.  Such  a school 
suited  such  a scholar  as  Alma-Tadema,  and  he  calls  himself  to-day  a pupil  of 
Leys  and  De  Taye.  In  1861  he  exhibited  his  first  really  worthy  original  picture, 
and  it  was  purchased  by  the  King  of  the  Belgians.  This  gave  him  not  only  profit 

72 


but  encouragement  and  the  commencement  of  a reputation.  He  travelled  in 
Germany,  Italy,  France;  visited  London;  studied  the  works  in  the  great  collec- 
tions everywhere,  and  worked  unceasingly  himself.  He  made  a special  study  of 
classical  art  and  literature,  and  gradually,  but  slowly,  and  only  as  his  knowledge 
increased,  and  he  felt  certain  of  his  material,  gravitated  towards  the  field  of  sub- 


FfiOM  A PAINTING  BY  W.  KRAY. 

THE  NYMPH  OF  ROSES. 
73 


FROM  A PAINTING  BY  G.  BOULANGER. 

A SUMMER  BATH  AT  POMPEII. 

jects  to  which  he  eventually  devoted  himself  and  upon  which  his  fame  rests.  He 
was  already  prosperous,  for  his  pictures  sold  from  the  easel,  when  he  married 
the  daughter  of  a wealthy  English  manufacturer,  whom  he  had  met  on  one 
of  his  numerous  visits  to  London.  His  wife,  herself,  possessed  strong  artistic 
talent,  and  under  his  tutelage  has  become  so  good  a painter  that  the  name  Laura 
Alma-Tadema  is  now  sought  for  in  the  catalogues  of  the  London  exhibitions. 
In  1871  he  settled  in  London,  having  previously  had  his  studio  in  Brussels,  and  in 

74 


FROM  A PAINTING  BY  LUIGI  MION. 


EARLY  MORNING. 


FAOM  A PAINTING  BY  PAUL  THUMANN. 

THE  SIRENS. 


76 


FROM  A PAINTING  BY  FELIX  BARRIAS. 

THE  TRIUMPH  OF  VENUS. 


77 





FROM  A PAINTING  BY  N.  SICHEL. 

YUM-YUM. 

78 


London  he  remains,  in  spite  of  the  fact  that  the  dynamite  explosion  of  Regent’s 
Park  in  1874  destroyed  his  house  and  his  fine  classical  art  collection,  and  compelled 
him  to  build  a newer — and  much  more  palatial — home. 

In  “ A Message”  Miss  Heva  Coomans  is  represented  by  another  of  the  Pom- 
peiian subjects  which  ccrrhe  to  her,  in  a manner,  as  a sort  of  artistic  legacy  from 
her  father.  The  Germans  have  a pretty  legend  that  there  is  a wood-nymph 
who  has  a passion  for  roses,  who  dwells  by  woodland  brooks  and  charms  man- 
kind by  the  spell  of  the  splendid  flower  of  love.  It  is  this  fable  which  William 
Kray  personifies  in  “The  Nymph  of  Roses,”  in  his  usual  ideal  manner.  A very 
great  man  was  lost  to  French  art  in  the  death,  a few  years  ago,  of  Gustave 
Rodolphe  Clarence  Boulanger.  He  was  born  in  Paris,  in  1824,  became  at  four- 
teen years  of  age  a student  at  the  Ecole  des  Beaux  Arts,  and  was  a favorite 
pupil  of  Jollivet  and  Paul  Delaroche.  In  1849  won  the  Prix  de  Rome,  and 
travelled  to  Italy,  where  he  remained,  studying  and  painting,  until  1856.  Previous 


FROM  A PAINTING  BY  F.  J.  BARRIAS. 

SIRENS. 

to  going  to  Rome,  he  had  spent  some  months  in  North  Africa,  making  studies  of 
local  life,  and  after  completing  the  term  of  his  Government  pension  in  Italy,  he 
once  more  went  to  Algiers.  These  two  sources  of  study  practically  influenced  his 
whole  artistic  career.  The  “Summer  Bath  at  Pompeii”  was  painted  in  1876  and 
is  esteemed  one  of  his  best  pictures,  upon  his  Italian  motives.  He  was  made  a 
member  of  the  Legion  of  Honor  in  1865,  and  when  he  died  was  a Chevalier,  or 
Officer,  of  the  order. 

Friedrich  Paul  Thumann,  who  was  born  at  Tschaksdorf,  in  the  Lausitz,  in 
1834,  was  originally  intended  for  a scientific  career,  and  studied  with  that  purpose 
at  the  engineering  school  at  Glogau.  At  the  age  of  nineteen,  however,  he  entered 
the  Berlin  Academy  as  an  art  student.  In  1856  he  settled  in  Dresden,  where,  until 
i860,  he  remained  as  a pupil  of  Julius  Hiibner.  He  had  now  become  known  as  a 
painter,  both  of  portraits  and  religious  compositions,  which  found  favor.  In  i860 

79 


— r 


FROM  A PAINTING  BY  QA8TON  GERARO. 

THE  VOICE  OF  EVENING. 
80 


FROM  A PAINTING  BY  LUIS  FALERO. 


MARINA. 


UNDINE. 

he  removed  to  Leipzig,  the  great  German  publishing  centre,  where  as  a draughts- 
man and  illustrator  for  books  and  periodicals  he  acquired  both  a wide  reputation 
and  a great  deal  of  money.  This  enabled  him  in  1863  to  resume  his  study  of 
painting,  which  he  did  under  Professor  Pauwels  at  Weimar.  After  travelling  in 
Italy,  France,  and  England,  he  in  1866  became  a professor  at  the  Weimar  Academy, 
which  he  exchanged  six  years  later  for  the  Academy  at  Dresden,  and  in  1875  for  a 
similar  post  in  Berlin,  where  he  still  remains.  “ The  Sirens”  is  an  extremely 
characteristic  work  from  his  brush,  and  gives  a new  view  of  a subject  which  has 
already  been  treated  in  “ Modern  Figure  Painting”  by  different  artists.  In 
“The  Triumph  of  Venus”  one  may  obtain  a clear  comprehension  of  the  man- 
ner of  composition  and  treatment  of  the  eminent  French  artist  F£lix  Joseph 
Barrias.  Barrias  is  a native  of  Pans,  born  in  1822,  where  his  father  was  a painter 
on  porcelain.  This  trade  the  parent  taught  the  son,  and  he  was  such  an  apt  scholar 
that  at  the  age  of  sixteen  he  was  able  to  earn  his  own  living  by  it,  and  to  enter  the 
studio  of  Cogniet  for  instruction  in  a higher  walk  of  art.  In  1844  he  captured  the 
Prix  de  Rome  and  went  to  Italy,  and  his  “ Exiles  of  Tiberius”  in  1850,  which  is 
now  in  the  Luxembourg  collection,  confirmed  his  position  and  secured  him  a medal 
of  the  first  class,  then  a very  rare  recompense.  Nine  years  later  he  received  the 
cross  of  the  Legion  of  Honor  for  a historical  painting,  representing  one  of  the 
movements  of  the  French  army  in  the  Crimean  War.  Luigi  Mion,  a rising  young 
French  artist,  typifies  “ Early  Morning”  as  a maiden  in  gauzy  white  robe  and  drapery, 
suggestive  of  the  early  mist,  who  smiles  joyously  out  of  a rich  midsummer  land- 

82 


scape,  with  the  fields  dotted  with  daisies.  “ Yum-Yum”  presents  Nathaniel  Sichel 
in  a new  aspect,  with  a full-length  figure  of  a European  lady  in  Japanese  masquerade. 
We  have  already  given  one  artistic  version  of  the  conflicting  ancient  stories  of  the 
death  of  Orpheus.  From  the  easel  of  Emile  Joseph  Millochau  comes  an  episode  of 
another.  He  adopts  the  tale  that  instead  of  having  been  killed  by  a thunderbolt 
from  Jove,  Orpheus,  having  refused  to  worship  Dionysus,  was  by  the  latter’s 
command  torn  to  pieces  by  the  Msenades  or  Bacchantes.  The  artist  shows  one  of 
the  repentant  Maenades,  who  has  stolen  away  from  her  companions,  and  is  mourning 
over  the  head  of  the  singer  in  whose  cruel  slaughter  she  assisted.  The  artist  is  a 
native  of  Paris,  and  was  a pupil  of  Cabanel  and  of  Feyen  Perrin.  Gaston 
Gerard  is  another  French  painter,  but  one  who  adheres  more  closely  to  decorative 
than  classical  lines.  In  his  “Voice  of  Evening”  he  suggests  the  hour  lulling  the 
world  to  sleep  with  her  soft  notes  of  song. 

The  spirit  of  the  sea,  as  embodied  by  Luis  Falero  in  “ Marina,”  is  a young  and 
lovely  woman,  crowned  with  pearls,  and  wearing  a robe  of  green  and  gold,  the 
colors  of  the  royal  seaweeds,  who  wanders  on  the  strand  as  in  a realm  of  dreams. 
The  “ Undine”  of  William  Kray  is  a subject  whose  suggestion  is  derived  by  the 
artist  from  the  well-known  tale  of  the  water-fairy.  It  was  first  exhibited  at 
the  Munich  Exposition  of  1879,  and  added  much  to  the  artist’s  reputation. 
“ The  Flowers’  Revenge”  comes  from  an  old  legend  called  “ The  Revenge  of 
the  Roses.”  According  to  this  tale,  a beautiful  but  cruel  woman  had  a passion 
for  roses.  Her  exactions  devastated  the  gardens  of  the  land,  until  the  poor 
roses,  in  their  despair,  appealed  to  their  mistress  Venus  for  protection,  and  she 
granted  them  the  power  to  destroy  life  as  well  as  to  delight  the  senses.  Once 
more  only  did  the  cruel  beauty  ravage  the  garden  beds.  Next  morning  she  was 


FROM  A PAINTING  BY  EMIL  DOERSTLING. 


THE  FLOWER’S  REVENGE. 





FROM  A PAINTING  BY  W.  A.  BOUGUEREAU. 

MARIE  MADELEINE. 


found  dead  on  her  sumptuous  couch,  and  the  flowers  which  had  triumphed  over  her 
bloomed  around  her  in  exultation.  The  painter,  Emil  Doerstling,  is  a Berlin  man, 
and  a graduate  of  the  Royal  Academy  of  that  city.  Max  Nonnenbruch,  who  has 
been  introduced  to  the  reader  in  a previous  section  of  this  work,  appears  at  his 
best  here  in  “A  Greek  Slave.”  F.  Lequesne  is  a son  of  the  eminent  Parisian 
sculptor  Eugene  Louis  Lequesne,  and  received  his  first  instruction  in  art  from 
his  father.  “The  Two  Pearls”  is  one  of  a number  of  striking  pictures  which 
have  attracted  attention  to  him  in  different  Salon  exhibitions. 

85 


VI. 


It  is  only  the  denizens  of  southern  countries  who  appreciate  that  repose  during 
the  heat  of  the  day  to  which  the  Spaniards  nave  given  the  title  of  the  siesta.  In 
the  brisk  and  invigorating  atmosphere  of  the  North,  where  the  enervating  power  of 
the  sun  is  reduced  to  a minimum,  people  are  at  their  busiest  at  the  hours  when  in 
more  tropical  latitudes  they  surrender  themselves  to  lassitude  and  indolent  ease. 
It  is  one  of  the  brunette  beauties  of  the  far  south  of  France,  drowsing,  half  asleep 
and  half  awake,  through  the  midsummer  mid-day,  that  Marcel-Paul  Meys  presents 
in  “A  Summer  Siesta.”  The  painter,  who  is  of  Parisian  birth,  is  a pupil  of  Delau- 
nay and  of  Puvis  de  Chavannes,  to  the  influence  of  which  masters  one  may  prob- 
ably ascribe  his  superb  command  of  form,  and  the  broad  and  solid  handling  of  his 
subjects. 

One  of  the  strongest  and  most  individual  of  modern  French  painters,  a man 
replete  with  originality  and  fiery  spirit,  is  Aime  Nicolas  Morot.  Morot  was  born 
at  Nancy  in  1850,  and  studied  art  under  Cabanel.  He  won  the  Prix  de  Rome 
in  1873,  and  his  first  picture  exhibited  at  the  Salon,  in  1876,  obtained  him  his  first 


-KOM  A PAINTING  BY  AOOlPHE  WEISZ. 

THE  PALADIN  ROGER  RESCUING  ANGELICA. 
86 


medal.  He  was  medalled  again  in  1877  and  in  1879,  and  received  the  medal  of 
honor  in  1880  for  “The  Good  Samaritan,”  a powerful  .picture  which  the  Govern- 
ment purchased  for  the  Luxembourg  Museum.  He  painted  religious  subjects 
and  profane  subjects,  allegories,  mythological  compositions,  battle  scenes,  with 
an  endless  facility  and  felicity  of  touch.  From  a journey  in  Spain  he  brought 
back  a number  of  Spanish  motives,  one  of  which,  a scene  at  a bull-fight,  is  now  in 
the  Corcoran  Gallery  at  Washington.  “A  Japanese  Fancy”  is  one  of  his  char- 

87 


THE  PLUNGE. 


acteristically  audacious  experiments  in  contrasts,  the  opposition  of  the  pure  and 
delicate  tint  and  texture  of  flesh  to  the  blazing  and  gaudy  colors  of  an  Oriental 
umbrella  and  robe.  Morot  is  a son-in-law  of  the  great  painter  J.  L.  G6rome. 

The  story  of  Phaedra  is  one  of  the  gloomiest  tragedies  of  Greek  legend.  She 
was  the  daughter  of  Minos,  King  of  Crete,  and  Pasiphae,  the  sister  of  Ariadne  and 
the  second  wife  of  Theseus.  She  had  a stepson,  Hippolytus  by  name.  He  failed 
in  paying' due  homage  and  worship  to  Venus,  and  the  goddess,  in  revenge,  resolved 
on  his  destruction.  To  begin  with,  she  inspired  his  stepmother  with  an  intense 
and  unnatural  passion  for  him,  which  led  her  to  make  advances  which  the  youth 
indignantly  rejected.  Phaedra  then  accused  Hippolytus  to  his  father,  and  Theseus, 
his  jealousy  aroused,  demanded  his  life  from  Neptune.  Accordingly,  Hippolytus 
was  thrown  from  his  chariot  while  driving  on  the  seashore,  and  dragged  along  the 
sands  till  he  was  dead.  Then  Phaedra,  goaded  to  madness  by  remorse,  committed 
suicide.  The  artist  shows  the  unhappy  woman,  tormented  by  the  memory  of  her 
crime,  watched  over  in  her  chamber  by  her  anxious  and  weary  attendants.  It  was 
in  this  scene  of  Racine’s  tragedy  that  the  famous  French  actress,  Rachel,  achieved 
her  most  magnificent  tragic  success  upon  the  stage,  and  in  it  Mme.  Sarah  Bern- 
hardt reaches  the  apex  of  her  art. 

Alexandre  Cabanel,  who  died  in  1889,  was  born  at  Montpellier  in  1823.  He 
began  painting  as  a pupil  of  Picot,  in  the  old  classical  manner,  but  soon  adopted 
a more  modern  and  natural  style  of  his  own.  After  carrying  off  the  Prix  de  Rome 
in  1845,  he  took  medal  after  medal,  was  made  an  Officer  of  the  Legion  of  Honor 


FROM  A PAINTING  BY  ALEXANDER  CABANEL. 


PH/CDRA. 

88 


and  a Member  of  the  Institute  of  France. 
His  pictures  are  to  be  found  in  all  the 
European  museums  and  many  of  our  own, 
and  in  every  private  collection  of  note  in 
America  and  abroad ; and  his  decorative 
paintings  in  the  Louvre  and  other  public 
buildings  are  among  the  masterpieces  of 
that  art.  He  was  also  a portrait  painter 
of  the  first  order,  especially  of  women, 
and  no  small  part  of  his  large  fortune 
came  to  him  from  his  commissions  in  this 
line,  many  of  his  sitters  being  Americans. 
“Phaedra”  was  painted  by  him  in  1880, 
and  the  original  picture  is  in  the  collec- 
tion of  Mr.  John  T.  Martin,  of  Brook- 
lyn, N.  Y. 

The  Hungarian  painter,  F.  Dvorak, 
has  won  a reputation  by  pictures  of  the 
decorative  order,  of  which  “ Spring”  is 
an  excellent  example.  As  is  common 
with  painters  of  his  nationality,  he  is  a 
particularly  fine  colorist.  “ An  Egyptian 
Slave”  is  a good  study  of  voluptuous 
Oriental  character  by  Nathaniel  Sichel, 
and  Lionel  Royer  appears  again  in  a 
masterly  composition,  “ Love  and  Folly.” 
Here  Folly,  mad  with  wantonness,  is 
leading  Love,  who  is  blindfold,  to  de- 
struction over  a precipice.  The  idea  is 
original  and  its  realization  thoroughly 
artistic  and  sound.  A figure  almost 
worthy  of  an  old  master  in  sentiment 
and  dignified  simplicity  of  treatment  is 
the  “Magdalen”  of  Mme.  Jacqueline 
Comerre-Paton.  Mme.  Paton,  who  was 
born  in  Paris  and  was  a pupil  of  Cabanel, 
is  the  wife  of  the  eminent  artist  Ldon 
Comerre,  and  has  gained  much  favor  by 
her  work  in-  portraiture  and  her  pictures 
of  sentiment  and  feeling,  like  the  one 
we  give  herewith.  The  “ Spring”  of  L. 
Bouvier  is  a charming  panel  in  the  truest 
89 


FROM  A PAINTING  BY  CH.  CHAPLIN. 

AUTUMN. 


FROM  A PAINTING  BY  N.  8ICHEL. 

AN  EGYPTIAN  SLAVE. 


decorative  feeling,  by  a young  artist  of  Paris  of  rapidly  growing  reputation. 
Charles  Landelle  reappears  with  a half-length  figure  of  an  Almeh,  or  Egyptian 
dancing-girl,  resting  in  an  interval  of  her  performance  by  leaning  against  a wall 
as  she  watches  the  other  dancers.  “ Morning”  and  “ Night”  are  two  world-famous 

90 


LOVE  AND  FOLLY. 


FROM  A PAINTING  BY  MME.  J.  COMERRE-PATON. 

MAGDALEN. 


92 


FROM  A PAINTING  BY  E.  BENNER. 

AUTUMN. 


paintings  by  W.  A.  Bou- 
guereau,  which  appeared  in 
the  Salons  of  1881  and  1882 
respectively,  and  both  of 
which  are  now  in  American 
collections.  They  are,  in  con- 
ception and  treatment,  among 
the  most  purely  classical  of 
the  painter’s  productions, 
and  far  above  his  average  in 
refined  and  tender  sentiment. 

The  education  of  the  in- 
fant Bacchus,  our  mytholo- 
gies inform  us,  was  confided 
by  his  immortal  father  Zeus 
to  the  nymphs  of  Nysa  in 
Thrace,  to  which  fact  lexi- 
cographers attribute  his 
ancient  Greek  title  of  Dion- 
ysus. The  young  god’s 
childhood  must  have  been  a 
pleasant  one,  spent  as  it  was  . 
among  the  Thracian  groves 
and  by  the  banks  of  the  smil- 
ing river  Nysa,  in  which  the 
artist  shows  him  sporting 
with  the  ripples  of  the  genial 
flood.  The  painter,  Joseph 
Victor  Ranvier,  is  a native 
of  Lyons,  and  learned  to 
draw  at  the  local  art  school 
in  order  to  become  a designer 
for  the  silk  and  wall-paper 
manufacturers.  Having  suc- 
ceeded in  accumulating  a 
modest  capital  out  of  the  sur- 
plus of  his  earnings  in  the 
service  of  industrial  art,  he 
settled  in  Paris  as  a pupil  of 
Janniot  and  of  Richard,  and 
won  his  first  medal  at  the 
Salon  of  1865.  He  became 


'HO1-'  A PAtriTING  BY  CHARLES  LANDELLE. 

THE  ALMEH. 

94 


” 


FROM  A PAINTING  BY  W.  A.  BOUGUEREAU. 


MORNING. 

95 


a favorite  artist  in  the  field  of  figure,  and  received  the  cross  of  the  Legion  of 
Honor  in  1878.  Francisque  Edouard  Bertier  was  another  French  artist,  born  in 
Paris,  and  educated  in  the  studios  of  Bouguereau  and  Cabanel.  After  achieving 
success  in  Paris,  he  some  years  ago  visited  America,  and  opened  a studio  in  New 
York,  where  he  painted  many  portraits  and  genre  subjects,  and  where  his  home 


FROM  A PAINTING  BY  J.  V.  RANVIER. 

THE  INFANCY  OF  BACCHUS. 


was  the  centre  of  a refined  social  circle.  He  died  upon  his  return  to  France.  “A 
Trick  at  Cards”  represents  a Spanish  gypsy  girl,  who  is  giving  a sleight-of-hand 
performance  before  some  impromptu  rural  audience  in  a country  barn  or  the 
stable  of  an  inn,  the  customary  theatres  for  these  entertainments  of  the  itinerant 
mountebanks. 

Another  example  of  the  fantastic  invention  of  Luis  Falero  is  presented  in  “ The 
Departure  of  the  Witches.”  This  is  a section  of  one  of  his  famous  pictures  whose 
suggestion  he  derived  from  his  studies  of  the  Faust  legend,  and  is  a composition 
worthy  of  those  creative  geniuses  in  ancient  art  who  followed  the  lead  of  Holbein 
and  made  “ The  Dance  of  Death”  a vehicle  for  the  free  fling  of  their  fecund  im- 
agination. The  idea  is,  of  course,  that  of  the  witches  and  warlocks  and  their 
hideous  attendants  making  their  annual  aerial  flight  to  their  common  congrega- 
ting place  upon  the  Brocken,  as  veraciously  detailed  in  the  old  legend.  Carl  von 
Bodenhausen,  a well-known  German  artist,  is  admirably  represented  by  his  “Voices 
of  Fairyland,”  a picture  which  attracted  much  attention  in  the  exhibitions  of  his 
native  country  some  years  ago.  It  is  a time-honored  German  story  which  it  illus- 
trates; telling  how  a maiden  whose  home  was  embittered  by  harsh  parents  and  sis- 
ters, a sort  of  Cinderella,  as  it  might  be,  fell  asleep  beside  a haunted  stream,  and 
was  awakened  by  the  voices  of  the  pitying  fairies,  who  presaged  for  her  a grand 
future,  which  in  due  course  came  to  pass,  for  she  was  wooed  and  won  by  a hand- 

96 


some  prince  in  disguise,  and  became  a queen  and  the  ruler  over  the  wicked  people 
whose  cruelty  had  once  oppressed  her. 

There  was  once  a famous  collector  of  works  of  art  and  antiquity  in  Russia 
named  Charles  de  Liphart.  He  was  the  descendant  of  a Frenchman  who  had  come 


FROM  A PAINTING  BY  F.  E.  BERTIER. 

A TRICK  AT  CARDS. 
*7 


FROM  A PAINTING  BY  LUIS  FALERO. 

THE  DEPARTURE  OF  THE  WITCHES. 


to  Russia  to  serve  the  Empress  Catherine,  and  he  had  in  his  turn  a son  who  is  the 
present  artist  Baron  Ernest  de  Liphart.  The  boy,  growing  up  in  an  atmosphere  of 
art,  quite  in  a natural  way  became  an  artist.  His  father,  who  had  not  yet  squan- 
dered all  the  fortune  which  his  grandfather  had  amassed,  sent  Ernest,  who  was 

98 


rROM  A PAINTING  BY  C.  VON  BODEN HAUSEN. 


THE  VOICES  OF  FAIRYLAND. 


UPHART. 

THE  ASSUMPTION  OF  MARY  MAGDALEN. 

100 


CROM  A PAINTING  BY  H.  ED  SIEMIRADZKI. 

THE  SWORD  DANCE. 


born  at  Dorpat,  to  Florence  to  study.  There  the  boy  fell  in  with  the  now  famous 
German  painter  Lenbach,  who  was  studying  in  Italy  under  the  patronage  of  Count 
Schack.  Count  Schack  was  a German  nobleman  of  colossal  wealth,  and  a great 
art  collector,  who  during  his  lifetime  encouraged  and  supported  many  struggling 
young  artists  whom  he  esteemed  to  be  of  merit,  and  when  he  died,  a couple  of  years 
ago,  bequeathed  his  palace  and  his  matchless  collection  of  pictures  in  Munich, 
Bavaria,  to  the  nation  as  a public  museum.  Lenbach,  who  was  a favorite  of  the 
Count’s,  introduced  the  young  Russian  to  him,  and  argued  so  eloquently  in  his 
favor  that  the  Count,  who  had  arranged  already  to  send  Lenbach  to  Spain  to  study 
the  old  masters  there,  sent  his  friend  with  him,  defraying  all  his  expenses  also. 
This  was  the  turning-point  of  de  Liphart’s  career. 

Hendrik  de  Siemiradzki  is  of  Polish  birth,  from  1843.  The  place  of  his  nativity 
was  a village  in  the  province  of  Grodno  called  Siemirad,  from  which  he  takes  his 
surname,  the  name  of  his  family  being  plain  Hendrik.  His  father  was  a small 
official  under  the  Russian  Government,  and  sent  him  to  Charkoff  to  become  a pro- 
fessor of  natural  history  at  the  college  there.  The  boy  was  a diligent  student,  but 
the  necessities  of  his  education  caused  him  to  learn  to  draw,  and  in  doing  so  the 
art  spirit  which  was  latent  in  him  was  aroused.  When  he  had,  with  honor,  com- 
pleted his  course  in  natural  history,  he  went  to  St.  Petersburg  and  entered  himself 
as  a student  of  art  at  the  Imperial  Academy.  His  first  works  were  drawings  in 
monochome,  crayon,  pencil,  india-ink,  sepia,  and  these,  in  1870,  were  found  so 
meritorious  by  the  professors  of  the  Academy  that  they  allowed  him  the  Imperial 
stipend  upon  which  he  could  travel  and  study  in  Europe.  He  visited  Paris  and 
then  settled  in  Munich,  where  he  became  a pupil  of  Piloty,  and  won  his  rank 
among  the  foremost  of  his  fellows. 


101 


VII. 


The  history  of  art  presents,  in  every  period  or  generation,  examples  of  men 
who  are  in  advance  of  their  time,  and  who,  in  spite  of  the  restrictions  and  conven- 
tions of  the  period  in  which  they  were  born,  contrive  to  emancipate  themselves  from 
all  such  thraldom  and  by  their  native  originality  create  a distinct  and  independent 
course  for  themselves.  Such  an  artist  was  Auguste  Barthelemy  Glaize.  He  was 
born  at  Montpellier  in  1813,  at  a time  when  art  in  France  was  chained  to  the  cold- 
est classicism,  when  the  painters  were  taught  to  ignore  life  entirely  and  to  base 


FROM  A PAINTING  BY  AUG.  B.  GLAIZE. 

LOVE’S  FIRST  STEP. 

their  studies  and  their  methods  upon  the  antique — a beautiful  and  noble  model,  it 
is  true,  but  cold  and  lifeless  as  the  sculptured  marble  in  which  antique  art  had  been 
preserved  to  modern  times.  These  were  the  influences  which  surrounded  young 
Glaize  when  he  learned  to  draw  as  a schoolboy.  But  a change  was  coming.  What 
we  now  know  as  the  romantic  movement  in  French  art  was  gathering  strength.  A 
race  of  original  and  resolute  men  had  determined  to  cast  off  the  shackles  imposed 
by  the  old  order  of  things,  and  to  ignore  traditions  with  which  they  had  no  sym- 
pathy. Prominent  among  these  revolutionaries  were  the  brothers,  Achille  and 

J02 


FROM  A PAINTING  BY  LUIS  FALERO. 

THE  PRAYER  TO  ISIS. 

Eugene  Deveria.  They  were  the  sons  of  a clerk  of  the  Archives  in  the  Depart- 
ment of  the  Marine  in  Paris,  and  while  Eugene  became  a painter  Achille  became  a 
designer  and  lithographer.  He  was  born  in  1800,  and  was  quite  a well-known 
artist  by  the  time  Glaize  was  finishing  his  schooling.  He  was  one  of  the  greatest 
original  designers  on  the  lithographic  stone  that  ever  lived,  as  eccentric  in  his 

103 


MADEMOISELLE  PIERROT. 


personai  ways  as  he  was  original  in  his  art,  but  with  a large,  warm  heart.  To  this 
man  Glaize.  as  a youth,  went  to  learn  lithography,  because  he  could  make  his  living 
by  it  while  he  learned  to  paint.  Eugene  Deveria,  who  lived  with  his  brother, 
advised  and  instructed  the  young  fellow  in  painting.  So,  in  due  time,  he  became 
an  artist,  and  commenced  to  exhibit  at  the  Salon.  He  took  medal  after  medal, 
received  the  Legion  of  Honor  in  1855,  was  commissioned  by  the  Government  for 
many  decorations  for  public  places,  and  prospered  out  of  the  sheer  force  of  his 
genius.  His  art  is  excellently  represented  by  “ Love’s  First  Step.”  The  “Prayer 
to  Isis”  is  one  of  the  famous  pictures  of  Luis  Falero  which  grew  out  of  his  study 
of  the  antiquities  of  Egypt.  Here  a girl  performs  upon  one  of  those  ancient 
harps  over  a sounding  skin  like  a drum-head,  of  which  examples  have  been  found 


FROM  A PAINTING  BY  VAN  DEN  BOS. 

THE  PREY  OF  CUPID. 

by  explorers.  The  instruments  which  the  younger  child  uses  are  sistrums.  They 
were  made  of  metal,  and  produced  a rattling  sound  which  keot  time  to  the  notes 
of  music  and  the  chant  of  the  worshippers. 

In  French  pantomimes  they  have  a character  called  Pierrot,  who  is  practically 
equivalent  to  an  English  stage  clown.  He  is  dressed  and  made-up  as  a young 
boy,  and  his  business  on  the  boards  is  to  be  as  stupid,  simple-minded,  cunning,  and 
malicious,  and  above  all  funny,  as  a young  boy  can  be  in  real  life.  Pierrette  or 
Mademoiselle  Pierrot,  like  Pierrot,  makes  up  as  a young  girl,  and  behaves  as 
mischievously,  though  not  as  stupidly,  as  he.  In  the  picture  by  Robaudi  he  shows 
one  of  these  feminine  counterparts  of  the  clown,  all  silk  and  satin,  who  returns 

105 


from  a masked-ball  and  rings  for  admission  into  her  apartment,  holding  a trophy 
of  the  evening  in  her  hand.  The  artist  is  an  Italian  by  birth,  a pupil  of  the  Paris 
art  schools,  and  has  his  studio  in  Paris.  The  example  which  we  present  of  him 
was  first  exhibited  in  the  Salon  of  1893. 


Jr 


FROM  A PAINTING  BY  JEAN  BENNER. 

REVERY. 

JOB 


NIGHT. 

107 


Georges  Pierre  Marie  Van  den  Bos,  in  spite  of  his  name,  which  smacks 
strongly  of  the  Netherlands,  is  a Swiss  by  birth,  and  has  his  studio  in  Paris.  His 
“ Prey  of  Cupid”  serves  as  a good  example  of  his  style.  Jean  Benner,  the  painter 
of  “ Reverie,”  is  the  twin  brother  of  Emmanuel  Benner,  several  examples  of  whom 
have  been  given  in  this  work.  He,  like  his  brother,  was  a designer  for  the  factories 
until  about  thirty  years  of  age,  when  his  savings  enabled  him  to  study  painting. 
He  went  to  Italy  in  1866,  after  having  had  instruction  in  Paris  from  Pils,  Henner, 
and  Leon  Bonnat.  He  had  exhibited  pictures  at  the  Salon,  however,  since  1859, 
and  since  1872  has  received  a number  of  medals.  “Night”  is  a decorative  and 
beautiful  composition  by  a Flemish  artist,  resident  in  Paris,  A.  de  Courten.  The 
prohibited  book  is  the  one  which  is  always  certain  to  be  read.  This  young 
person  has  been  commanded  not  to  read  a certain  novel — and  she  takes  it  to  bed 


CROM  A PAINTING  BY  ZUBER-BUHLER. 

THE  PROHIBITED  BOOK. 


10  read  and  dream  over.  Fritz  Zuber-Buhler,  the  artist,  was  born  at  Locle,  in 
Switzerland.  Locle  is  a town  chiefly  devoted  to  the  manufacturing  of  watches, 
and  as  the  boy  had  a taste  for  drawing  he  was  employed  to  engrave  designs  on  the 
cases  of  the  higher-priced  pocket-time-pieces.  In  its  small  way,  this  engraving  for 
the  jewellers  is  a profitable  business  to  the  employees,  so  Zuber-Buhler  was  able 

108 


CUPID  AND  THE  NYMPH. 


in  time  to  go  to  Paris  to  study  painting.  He  there  was  a pupil  of  Picot  and  of 
the  Swiss  painter  Grosclaude,  and  under  them  became  an  accomplished  technician, 
while  he  developed  a power  as  a colorist  quite  uncommon  with  painters  of  his 
nationality. 

Albert  Aublet  is  a Parisian,  a pupil  of  Jacquand  and  of  Gerome,  and  made 
the  regular  course  of  a student  at  the  School  of  Fine  Arts.  A visit  to  Constanti- 


FROM  A PAINTING  BV  B.  EUKOVAC. 

THE  WHITE  SLAVE. 


nople  next  added  subjects  of  Oriental  life  to  his  repertory,  and  led  to  the  com- 
pletion, among  others,  of  his  “Turkish  Woman  at  the  Bath,”  whose  appearance 
at  the  Salon  in  1883  was  received  with  great  applause  and  materially  added  to 
his  fame  and  prosperity. 

At  the  outpost  of  an  Arab  camp,  the  favorite  slave  girl  of  the  Sheik,  with  his 
pet  hound,  the  guardians  of  his  tent,  are  on  the  lookout  for  their  master’s  return 
from  a hunting  excursion.  The  artist,  Gaston  C.  Saintpierre,  is  a native  of  Nimes, 
and  studied  art  in  Paris  under  Cogniet  and  Jalabert.  He  made  various  excursions 
into  Algiers  and  the  deserts  of  North  Africa,  from  which  he  returned  with  a valu- 
able collection  of  motives.  He  received  his  first  medal  in  1868,  and  the  Legion 
of  Honor  in  1881.  The  story  of  Blaise  Bukovoc  has  been  given  in  detail  in  a 
previous  part  of  this  work.  His  “White  Slave”  represents  one  of  the  Greek  or 
Circassian  girls  who  were  frequently  to  be  found  in  Turkish  harems,  into  which 
they  came  as  spoils  of  war.  The  legend  of  Lorelei,  the  siren  of  the  Rhine,  is  one 
of  those  which  the  Germans  adopted  from  classical  antiquity  and  adapted  to  local 
surrounding  and  circumGances.  William  Kray  represents  the  lovely  and  love- 
less enchantress  seated  on  the  craggy  summit  of  the  cliff,  which  is  nearly  five  hun- 
dred feet  above  the  level  of  the  stream,  bathed  in  the  beams  of  the  moon,  and  by 
her  alluring  glances  inviting  the  hapless  boatmen  to  their  destruction.  “ Fatima” 

111 


is  another  of  the  always  popular  feminine  types  of  Nathaniel  Sichel  of  Berlin,  a 
queen  of  the  harem,  robed  in  satin  and  wearing  a headdress  of  great  golden  coins 
and  jewels.  Konrad  Dielitz  is  a German  portrait  and  genre  painter  of  high  rank 
He  was  born  in  1845  in  Berlin,  and  was  the  son  of  a well-known  literary  man. 


PAINTING  DV 


LORELEI. 

112 


FROM  A PAINTING  BY  N.  SICHEL. 

FATIMA. 


He  made  his  first  stroke  of  fortune  as  a portrait  painter,  and  the  reputation  he 
thus  gained  brought  him  an  appreciative  public  for  his  genre,  historical,  and 
legendary  compositions.  In  “ The  Daughters  of  the  Rhine”  he  takes  up  the 
legend  of  the  water-fairies  who  guard  the  fabulous  treasures  of  that  picturesque 
stream,  upon  which  Wagner  founded  his  opera  of  the  “Rheingold.”  Jules  Lefe- 

113 


#ROM  A PAINTING  BY  K.  DIELITZ. 

THE  DAUGHTERS  OF  THE  RHINE. 


bvre,  whose  biography  has  already  been  given,  presents  in  “ Antique  Poesy’'  a young 
girl  who  in  a poetic  competition  has  won  the  coveted  wreath  of  honor.  In  the 
simple  or  antique  times  it  was  a wreath  of  fresh  laurel.  Later  it  became  a wreath 
of  silver  in  imitation  of  laurel.  It  is  such  a wreath  that  the  figure  in  the  picture 


‘ROM  A PAINTING  BY  JULES  LEFEBVRE. 


ANTIQUE  POESY. 
115 


MARY  MAGDALEN 


lie 


means.  The  practice  was  continued  into  media;val  times,  especially  in  Italy  and 
France,  long  after  Christianity  had  spread  over  Europe  and  Paganism  had  com- 
pletely disappeared  from  the  civilized  portions  of  the  world. 

Mile.  Marie  Rose  Vasselon,  who  was  born  at  Craponne  in  the  Department  of 
the  Upper  Loire,  exhibited  in  earliest  childhood  a most  astonishing  artistic  talent. 


FROM  A PAINTING  BY  W.  A.  BOUGUEREAU. 


NYMPHS. 

She  seemed  to  learn  to  draw  by  instinct,  for  she  had  enjoyed  no  instruction  apart 
from  that  which  was  afforded  by  t'he  pictures  and  engravings  in  her  home.  A 
Madame  Thoret,  a very  able  woman  painter  of  the  time,  gave  her  her  first  actual 
•instruction  in  art.  She  then  went  to  Paris,  where,  while  studying  in  the  art  school, 
she  also  became  a student  under  Carolus  Duran  and  Henner.  Her  first  successes 
were  made  in  portraiture,  but,  strongly  influenced  by  Henner,  she  commenced  to 
make  a specialty  of  the  study  of  the  nude,  of  which  “ The  Bath”  is  a convincing 
example.  Miss  Vasselon  shows  in  her  pictures  a wonderfully  fine  appreciation  of 
color,  and  great  accuracy  and  skill  in  drawing.  Her  technique  is  big,  broadj  and 
free,  and  her  execution  perfect. 

The  “ Nymphs”  of  Bouguereau  is  one  of  his  famous  pictures.  It  is  a subject 
which  explains  itself. 


117 


VIII. 


When  the  French  Revolutionists  undertook  to  reconstruct  the  calendar  as  they 
did  everything  else,  they  rearranged  the  months  on  the  plan  which  they  called  tne 
Republican  year.  In  this  new  almanac  Floreal,  or  the  month  of  flowers,  was  the 
eighth  in  order  of  succession,  and  extended  from  April  20th  to  May  19th.  This  is 
the  month  which  the  painter  typifies  in  his  nymph  basking  in  a woodland  glade  on 
a couch  of  turf  and  wild-flowers.  Louis  Joseph  Raphael  Collin  was  born  in  Paris 
in  1850,  and  was  educated  for  a profession  at  the  Lyceum  Saint  Louis  and  the  Col- 
lege of  Verdun.  Discarding  the  original  purpose  of  his  career,  he,  in  1869,  entered 
the  studio  of  Bouguereau  as  a pupil,  after  which  he  made  a course  of  study  under 
Cabanel.  In  1873  he  exhibited  his  first  Salon  picture,  “Sleep,”  a magnificent  nude 
which  secured  him  a medal,  and  is  now  at  the  Museum  of  Rouen.  In  1875  another 
picture  of  similar  character  was  bought  out  of  the  Salon  by  the  Government  for 
the  Arras  Museum,  and  in  1877  his  “ Daphnis  and  Chloe”  was  also  purchased  for 
the  Museum  of  Alenfon.  He  has  been  a member  of  the  Legion  of  Honor  since 
1884.  In  the  hands  of  Albert  Aublet  “ The  New  Moon”  becomes  a graceful  female 
figure,  which  forms  a crescent  in  a sky  fleeced  with  clouds,  that  wreathe  in  vapors 
above  the  pale  peaks  of  the  legendary  Mountains  of  the  Moon.  “ The  Gypsy”  of 


FROM  A PAINTING  SY  R.  COLLIN. 


FLOREAL. 

118 


FROM  A PAINTING  BY  ALBERT  AUBLET. 

THE  NEW  MOON. 


Fritz  Zuber-Buhler  is  one  of  those  itinerant  dancing-girls  common  in  portions  of 
Southern  Europe  still,  who  reclines  by  the  roadside  in  the  forest  to  doze  and  dream 
away  the  summer  noonday.  Jules  Lefebvre  represents  in  “Salome,”  the  daughter 
of  Herodias,  an  essentially  Semitic  type  of  the  antique  period,  with  the  sensuous 
and  soulless  beauty  of  the  tigress  rather  than  the  woman,  bearing  the  charger  whicb 
is  to  receive  the  head  of  John  the  Baptist,  and  the  sword  which  is  to  decapitate 
him,  as  indifferently  as  if  it  were  a dish  of  fruit. 

119 


Mine.  Adeiheid  Salles-Wagner,  born  in  1825  in  Dresden,  is  the  elder  of  two 
sisters,  both  of  whom  are  well-known  painters.  Her  family  name  is  Wagner.  Her 
sister  Elise,  who  became  Madame  Puyroche,  devoted  herself  to  flower  painting. 
Adeiheid  studied  the  figure,  first  at  the  Dresden  Academy  and  later  under  Jacquand 
and  Cogniet  in  Paris.  There  she  met  and  married  the  well-known  artist  Jules 
Salles,  a native  of  Nimes  and  pupil  of  Paul  Delaroche.  Mme.  Salles-Wagner  made 
her  first  successes  with  portraits,  in  oil  and  in  pastel,  and  then  produced  a series  of 
mythological  and  religious  pictures  of  rare  merit.  In  ner  present  picture,  the 
chaste  Arethusa,  persecuted  by  the  persistent  attentions  of  the  iove  smitten  Arca- 
dian river-god  Alpheius,  prays  to  Diana  for  protection  against  his  unwelcome 
importunities,  and  is  being  changed  by  her  into  the  magic  fountain  of  Artygia. 

One  of  the  most  distinguished  artistic  figures  of  our  time  is  that  of  Charles 
Auguste  Emile  Duran,  or,  as  he  has  chosen  to  Latinize  and  abbreviate  his  name, 
Carolus  Duran.  He  was  born  at  Lille  in  1837,  and  first  studied  there  under  the 
direction  of  the  old  painter  Souchon.  Souchon  was  famous  as  a copyist  of  the  old 
masters,  and  he  impressed  their  study  on  his  pupil  as  more  valuable  than  the  direct 
instruction  of  any  living  artist.  The  youth  made  rapid  progress  under  his  advice, 
and  in  1853  went  to  Paris,  where  he  appears  to  have  subsisted  by  the  sale  of 
his  copies,  doing  little  other  painting,  but  associating  much  with  other  art  stu- 


FROM  A PAINTING  BY  ZUBER-BUHLER. 


THE  GYPSY. 
120 


PAINTING  BY  JULES  LEFEBVRE. 


SALOME. 

121 


dents,  among  whom  his  wit,  fluency  of  conversation,  and  energetic  character 
rendered  him  a leader.  In  1861  his  native  city  appropriated  a pension  for  him, 
upon  which  he  might  study  in  Italy.  In  1866,  he  went  to  Spain,  where  he  made 
a close  study  of  the  Spanish  masters,  particularly  Velasquez,  and  upon  his  return 
to  France  took  up  the  painting  of  the  nude  with  triumphant  success,  and  portrait- 
ure, in  which  he  soon  proved  himself  a master,  especially  when  he  had  women  or 
children  for  subjects.  Religious  subjects  and  decorative  work  came  equally  easy 
to  his  hand.  His  “Red-Haired  Lelia”  is  a portrait  of  a well-known  Paris  model, 
and  painted  in  such  a way  that  it  may  be  truly  said  to  live.  Duran  is  a writer  as 
well  as  a painter,  and  has  published  several  books.  His  medals  may  almost  be 


FROM  A PAINTING  BY  MME.  SALCES-WAGNER. 

THE  NYMPH  ARETHUSA. 

said  to  be  numberless,  and  they  are  headed  by  the  coveted  Medal  of  Honor,  which 
was  awarded  him  in  1879.  He  has  been  an  Officer  of  the  Legion  of  Honor  since 
1878.  His  wife,  Mine.  Pauline  Marie  Carolus  Duran,  who  was  born  at  St.  Peters- 
burg, is  also  a painter  of  merit. 

Another  of  the  great  modern  exponents  of  figure  painting  in  France,  though 
in  a totally  different  feeling  and  manner  to  Carolus  Duran,  is  L£on  Basile  Perrault, 
who  was  born  at  Poitiers  in  1832.  He  was  a student  under  Picot  and  Bouguereau, 
and  obtained  an  Honorable  Mention  for  his  very  first  exhibit  at  the  Salon,  in  1861. 
He  took  his  first  medal  three  years  later,  and  many  of  his  works  have  been  acquired 
by  the  State  for  various  museums.  His  pictures  are  well  known  in  the  United 
States,  where  they  have  long  been  popular  with  collectors.  In  addition  to  easel 


FROM  A PAINTING  BY  JEAN  AUBERT. 


CUPID’S  HOLIDAY. 


paintings  he  has  executed  a number  of  important  decorations,  and  as  a portrait 
painter  his  place  is  in  the  first  rank.  Perrault  is  a strong  and  careful  draughtsman, 
a fine  colorist,  and  a finished  but  not  labored  executant.  His  composition  is  always 
haPPy,  his  subjects  well  chosen,  pleasing,  and  full  of  interest,  and  his  pictures  have 
that  quality,  which  causes  people  to  say : “ His  figures  live  and  speak.  ” His  “ La 

123 


FROM  A PAINTING  BY  J.  R.  BEYSCHLAG. 

PSYCHE  IN  GRIEF. 

124 


FROM  A PAINTING  BY  MLLE.  NEVA  COOMANS. 


A BIRD  SELLER  IN  POMPEII. 

Cigale”  was  in  the  Salon  of  1893.  In  it  he  gives  a charming  interpretation  of  the 
fable.  The  merry  grasshopper  sings  her  song,  careless  of  the  approach  of  winter 
which  is  prognosticated  oy  the  autumn  foliage  in  which  she  is  embowered.  It  is 

126 


an  idyll  of  the  thoughtless  gayety  of  light-hearted  life,  heedless  of  anything  beyond 
the  day,  and  revelling  in  the  full  enjoyments  of  the  present. 

Jacques  Clement  Wagrez  was  born  in  Paris  in  1850.  His  father  was  a painter 
of  some  ability  and  from  him  he  received  his  first  instruction.  At  different  periods 
afterward  he  studied,  at  the  Ecole  des  Beaux  Arts,  under  Farochon,  Lenepveu, 
Pils,  and  Henri  Lehmann,  the  two  latter  of  whom  most  influenced  him.  Appearing 
first  at  the  Salon  in  1876  with  a portrait  and  mythological  subject,  “Eros,”  which 
created  remark,  and  in  1878  his  “ Education  of  Achilles  by  the  Centaur”  won  him  a 
medal  and  w’as  purchased  by  the  Government  for  the  Aurillac  Museum.  He  early 
began  to  give  much  attention  to  painting  for  purposes  of  decoration,  and  produced 
many  water-colors  and  designs  for  the  illustration  of  costly  artistic  publications. 
His  “Spring  Fairy”  is  one  of  a series  of  panels  intended  for  the  decoration  of  a 
private  mansion,  and  the  idea  is  derived  from  an  old  French  tale,  of  the  descent 
from  her  home  among  the  clouds  of  the  deity  who  brings  the  warm  mists,  the  sun- 
light, and  the  flowers  of  spring,  to  the  earth.  The  nondescript  beast  which  accom- 
panies her  seems  to  have  been  introduced  by  the  artist  in  a purely  whimsical  and 
fantastic  spirit,  as  it  has  no  place  in  the  legend  upon  which  the  picture  is  based. 


(ROM  A PAINTING  BY  CHARLES  LANDELLE. 

MOTHER  AND  CHILD:  TLEMCEN. 

127 


In  Pompeii  the  catching  and  training  of  wild  birds  for  sale  was  quite  an  im- 
portant employment  of  the  poorer  classes,  among  whom  the  professional  bird-snarers 
formed  an  independent  body.  Miss  Coomans  shows  a Pompeiian  girl,  inviting 
attention  to  her  wares  in  the  market-place.  The  “ Mother  and  Child”  of  Charles 

128 


Landelle  is  a souvenir  of  the  artist’s  tour  of  Algeria,  of  which  Tlemcen  is  the  chiei 
town  of  the  Department  of  Oran,  the  most  western  of  the  three  administrative 
divisions  of  the  colony.  The  admixture  of  the  French  with  the  Arab  population 
has  produced  some  curious  modifications  of  the  native  costume,  a hint  of  which 
may  be  found  in  the  dress  both  of  the  woman  and  the  sleeping  girl.  Jules  Louis 


FROM  A PAINTING  BY  ALEXANDER  CABANEL. 

THE  BIRTH  OF  VENUS. 

Machard  was  born  at  Sampans,  in  the  Jura,  in  1839,  was  a pupil  of  Picot  and  Sig- 
nal, and  in  1865  captured  the  Prix  de  Rome.  He  is  a painter  of  portraits,  history, 
classical,  and  fanciful  subjects,  of  which  latter  his  “ Soap  Bubbles”  is  an  excellent 
example.  He  has  been  a Member  of  the  Legion  of  Honor  since  1878. 

Unquestionably  the  most  famous  of  the  late  Alexandre  Cabanel’s  pictures  is 
his  “ Birth  of  Venus.”  The  original  painting  is  in  the  collection  of  the  Luxem- 
bourg, but  engravings,  photographs,  and  other  reproductions  have  made  it  familiar 
to  the  whole  world  as  one  of  the  foremost  classics  of  modern  art.  Under  a sky 
rosy  with  dawn,  Venus  Astarte  wakes  to  life  on  the  waves  of  which  she  is  born. 
The  picture  is  not  only  of  a matchless  grace  of  composition,  but  in  its  soft,  deli- 
cate color  and  tender  modelling  the  crowning  masterpiece  of  the  artist’s  produc- 
tions. It  was  first  exhibited  at  the  Salon  of  1875,  where  it  made  the  sensation  of 
the  year. 

In  “An  Odalisque”  N.  Sichel  again  reveals  the  felicity  and  variety  of  his  talent 
in  creating  beautiful  female  types.  The  face  is  thoroughly  characteristic  and  the 
attitude  and  drapery  graceful  and  picturesque.  Konrad  Delitz,  the  painter  of 
“The  Spirit  of  the  Alps,”  has  taken  a Tyrolean  legend  for  his  subject.  This  pop- 

129 


ular  tale  belongs  to  the  Bavarian  Alps,  in  which  most  of  the  artist’s  mountain 
studies  were  made.  A chamois  hunter  has  been  led  by  the  ardor  of  the  chase  to 
the  very  snow  line  of  the  loftiest  peak  of  the  range.  Here  the  last  scanty  vegeta- 
tion that  clothes  the  mountain-side  ceases.  Wearied  by  his  exertions,  the  hunter 
lies  down  to  sleep  upon  the  narrow  and  dangerous  ledge,  and  the  fairy  of  the 
mountains  discovers  the  intruder  on  her  domain.  His  youth  and  beauty  charm 


FROM  A FAINTING  BY  N.  8ICHEL 

AN  ODALISQUE. 

130 


FROM  A PAINTING  BY  K.  DELITZ. 


THE  SPIRIT  OF  THE  ALPS. 


[31 


-ROM  A PAINTING  BY  MLLE.  OIANA  COOMAN8. 

AT  THE  CALLIRHOE  SPRING. 


132 


FROM  A PAINTING  BY  E.  DEBAT-PONSAN. 


A TOILETTE  AL  FRESCO. 


away  any  resentment  which  she  might  entertain  against  his  trespass,  and  she 
plucks  an  edelweiss,  the  mountain  flower  which  grows  in  the  highest  and  most  in- 
accessible places,  to  place  it  in  his  hand  as  a protecting  talisman. 

Miss  Diana  Coomans  turns  from  Pompeii  to  Athens  for  “ At  the  Callirhoe 
Spring.”  The  fountain  of  Callirhoe,  called  the  fountain  of  nine  springs,  because 
its  waters  were  distributed  in  that  number  of  channels,  was  credited  with  magical 
properties  and  powers,  and  its  fluid  treasure  was  sought  with  prayer  and  floral 
invocation  by  the  maidens,  to  whom  it  was  supposed  to  bring  good  fortune  in 
affairs  of  the  heart.  The  fountain,  it  may  be  added,  derived  its  name  from  the 
daughter  of  the  river-god  Achelus,  to  whom  it  was  dedicated.  The  “ Daphne”  of 
Emmanuel  Benner  also  dives  into  Greek  legend  for  its  subject.  Daphne,  a beauti- 
ful nymph  of  the  forest  and  the  stream,  became  the  object  of  a violent  passion  on 
the  part  of  Apollo.  She  scorned  him.  He  pursued  her,  and  she  called  upon  her 
mother,  the  Earth,  for  succor.  The  appeal  was  answered.  According  to  one  ver- 
sion of  the  fable  she  was  turned  into  a laurel  tree  just  as  Apollo  was  about  to  grasp 
her,  and  the  laurel  was  thenceforward  a tree  sacred  to  all  poets  and  heroes,  and 
was  used  as  a crown  of  honor.  The  name  of  the  transformed  nymph  was  given  to 
the  grove  in  which  her  transformation  occurred,  and  in  which  was  erected  a sanctii 
ary  and  temple  to  Apollo  and  Diana. 


133 


IX. 


In  the  year  1856  a young  student  at  the  £cole  des  Beaux  Arts  in  Paris,  where 
he  had  studied  under  Drolling  and  Picot,  entered  into  the  school  competition  for 
the  Prix  de  Rome  and  won  it.  His  name  was  Felix  Auguste  Clement,  and  he  was 
born  in  1826  at  Donzere,  in  the  Department  of  Drome.  The  course  of  his  artistic 
life  began  at  the  Art  School  of  the  city  of  Lyons  in  1843,  and  in  1848  he  came  to 
Paris.  The  four  years  he  spent  in  Italy  as  a pensioner  of  the  State  proved  fruitful 
in  good  work.  At  that  time  he  made  a special  study  of  Roman  antiquities  and 
history,  upon  which  he  based  his  picture  of  “ The  Death  of  Caesar”  and  others 
After  his  return  to  Paris,  where  he  found  a profitable  market  as  a portrait  painter 
and  for  his  Italian  genre  pictures,  he  became  interested  in  the  history  of  ancient 
Egypt,  and  eventually  visited  that  country,  where  he  made  a protracted  stay  and 
gathered  much  valuable  material.  His  travels  in  Egypt  were  probably  more  ex- 
tensive than  those  of  any  other  modern  artist.  No  ancient  ruin  was  too  remote  for 
him  to  visit,  and  the  mass  of  studies  he  made  bore  fruit  on  his  coming  back  to 
France  in  a powerful  picture  of  “The  Destruction  of  Babylon.”  He  varied  his 
historical  compositions  by  many  pictures  of  Oriental  every-day  life,  and  other  more 


FROM  A PAINTING  BY  A.  F.  CLEMENT. 

MORNING. 

134 


FROM  A PAINTING  BY  MLLE.  DIANA  COOMAN8. 

A POMPEIIAN  FRUIT  VENDER. 


familiar  subjects,  to  which  his  “Morning,”  a young  mother  teasing  her  babe  with 
a spray  of  ripe  cherries,  belongs.  He  took  his  first  medal  in  1861,  and  some  ten 
years  ago  settled  in  Brussels,  where  he  hacf  been  made  a professor  at  the  Academy. 

135 


Pompeii  was  essentially  an  aristocratic  city.  It  bore  pretty  much  the  same 
relation  to  Rome  that  Newport  does  to  New  York.  That  is  to  say,  it  was  the 
home  of  the  wealthier  class,  and  even  its  poor,  who  served  them,  were  relatively 


FROM  A PAINTINO  BY  I.OUI8  CHALON. 

CIRCE  AND  THE  COMPANIONS  OF  ULYSSES. 


well-to-do  compared  with  the  rabble  of  the  Imperial  City.  The  fruit-girl  in  Miss 
Coomans’  picture  is  an  instance  of  this.  When  Ulysses,  after  the  fall  of  Troy, 
as  the  “ Odyssey”  relates  it,  went  voyaging  in  search  of  adventures,  he  landed  at 
the  island,  of  JEaea,  to  the  westward  of  Sicily,  which  was  ruled  over  by  the  fair- 
haired and  beautiful  sorceress  Circe,  the  daughter  of  the  Sun.  Around  her 
wonderful  palace,  where  she  sat  enthroned  on  a golden  throne,  in  a pond  of  lotus 

137 


IN  THE  BLUE  GROTTO. 


and  lilies,  roved  herds  of  beasts,  wolves,  lions,  tigers,  oxen,  and  the  like,  which 
had  once  been  human  beings  and  whom  she  had  transformed  by  her  spells.  The 
companions  of  Ulysses,  feasting  and  drinking  her  drugged  wine  while  guests  at 
her  palace,  were  converted  by  her  incantations  into  swine,  but  the  hero  himself, 
forewarned  by  Mercury  and  provided  by  him  with  a supply  of  mystic  herb  called 
moly,  was  proof  against  her  sorcery.  His  invulnerability,  courage,  and  manly 
beauty  captivated  the  lovely  witch,  and  for  a year  he  remained  her  guest,  when, 
having  induced  her,  out  of  her  love  for  him,  to  disenchant  his  companions,  he 
resumed  his  voyage.  Louis  Chalon,  the  painter,  is  a native  of  Paris,  and  a pupil 
of  Jules  Lefebvre  and  G.  Boulanger.  The  Blue  Grotto,  on  the  island  of  Capri,  at 
the  entrance  to  the  Bay  of  Naples,  is  one  of  the  natural  wonders  of  the  world. 
It  is  a cavern  which  can  be  entered  only  from  the  sea,  whose  interior  is  of  magnif- 


FROM  A PAINTING  BY  W.  THORNE. 

A SONG  WITHOUT  WORDS. 

icent  proportions  and  a wonderful  blue  color,  produced  probably  by  the  refraction 
by  the  water  of  the  sunlight  outside.  Thousands  of  visitors  cross  the  bay  from 
Naples  annually  to  visit  the  grotto,  and  the  island  itself  is  a favorite  resort  of  art- 
ists, quite  a colony  of  whom  have  formed  a permanent  settlement  there,  many  of 
them  marrying  girls  of  the  country.  Jean  Benner  visited  Capri  while  studying  in 
Italy,  and  his  picture  represents  a country  girl  bathing  in  the  Blue  Grotto,  which 

138 


THISBl 


I 


FROM  A PAINTING  BY  W.  A.  BOUGUEREAU. 

EVENING. 

140 


FROM  A PAINTING  BY  N.  SICHEL. 


MEDEA. 

141 


FROM  A PAINTING  BY  H.  ,CHEL, 

ASPASIA. 


is  a favorite  resort  for  this  purpose  during  the  midsummer  heats.  The  subject 
of  “ A Song  Without  Words”  explains  itself.  A young  girl  in  an  idle  mood  plays 
upon  a zither  the  dreamy  music  whose  spell  has  enchanted  half  the  world.  The 
artist,  W.  Thorne,  is  English,  a native  of  London  and  pupil  of  the  South  Kensing- 
ton Museum  School  of  Art. 

Ovid  tells  the  tragical  history  of  Pyramus  and  Thisb£  in  the  fourth  book  of 

142 


FROM  A PArNTINQ  BY  L&JN  PERRAULT. 

THE  NYMPH’S  REVENGE. 


wall  which  divided  their  adjoining  gardens.  Having  made  a rendezvous  at  the 
tomb  of  Ninus,  in  the  necropolis  outside  the  city,  Thisbe  arrived  first  on  the  spot, 
where  she  encountered  a lioness  which  had  just  killed  an  ox,  and  in  her  flight  while 
flying  from  the  dreaded  beast  dropped  her  garment,  which  the  lioness  tore  to  pieces. 
When  Pyramus  reached  the  tomb  he  discovered  the  robe,  torn  and  covered  with 
the  blood  of  the  ox,  and  supposing  his  mistress  to  have  been  killed  and  devoured, 
he,  in  despair,  killed  himself.  Thisbe,  having  regained  her  courage,  returned  only 
to  find  her  lover  dead,  whereupon  she  too  committed  suicide.  Edouard  Paupion, 
the  painter  of  “Thisbe,’’  was  born  at  Dijon  and  is  a pupil  of  J.  L.  Gerome.  His 


FROM  A PAINTING  BY  F.  T.  GROSSE. 

THE  JUDGMENT  OF  MIDAS. 

genre  pictures  and  portraits  are  highly  esteemed  and  his  historical  and  romantic 
subjects  always  well  composed  and  executed. 

The  “ Evening”  of  W.  A.  Bouguereau  is  a companion  picture  to  his  “ Morn- 
ing, ” which  has  already  been  given  in  this  work,  and  like  it  is  one  of  the  artist’s 
most  graceful  and  tenderly  sentimental  works.  The  original,  like  its  companion, 
is  in  an  American  collection.  Edouard  Bernard  Debat-Ponsan  is  a favorite  French 
artist,  born  at  Toulouse,  and  graduated  out  of  the  studio  of  Alexandre  Cabanel. 
Portraits  and  idyllic  subjects  like  “Spring  Flowers,”  a wood  nymph  who  has  been 
gathering  wild  flowers,  are  his  specialties.  He  was  first  medalled  in  1874  and  has 
been  a member  of  the  Legion  of  Honor  since  1881.  In  “ Aspasia”  Nathaniel 
Sichel  presents  a characteristic  impersonation  of  the  famous  Athenian  woman,  the 
wife  of  Pericles,  and  the  most  learned  woman  of  antiquity,  from  whom  Socrates 
himself  did  not  disdain  to  take  advice.  Leon  Perrault’s  picture  shows  a nymph 

144 


who  has  detected  Cupid  in  the  act  of  making  her  a target  for  one  of  his  darts,  and 
having  captured  and  disarmed  him,  is  taking  her  revenge  by  teasing  the  malicious 
little  enemy  to  the  peace  of  mind  of  her  sex. 

In  ancient  mythology,  when  they  had  tutelary  deities  for  nearly  everything  in 
nature,  the  riverside  was  not  forgotten.  There  were  two  great  classes  of  nymphs, 
one  of  the  woods  and  the  other  of  the  streams.  The  riverside  nymphs  were  of  an 


IMPROVISATION. 

145 


THE  FAIRY  OF  THE  MOON. 

146 


amphibious  nature,  partaking  of  the  characteristics  of  both.  It  is  such  a fabled 
beauty  whom  the  artist  depicts,  slumbering  beside  the  stream  whose  shore  is  under 
her  special  guardianship.  Georges  Lefebvre  is  the  son  of  an  artist  and  was  born  at 
Cezy  in  the  Department  of  Yonne.  He  received  his  preliminary  education  from  his 
father,  and  was,  when  sufficiently  advanced,  sent  to  Paris  to  study  under  G6rome. 
The  “Improvisation”  is  another  example  of  G.  Van  den  Bos,  and  represents  a 
young  lady  upon  the  terrace  of  a chateau,  improvising  an  air  upon  the  violin  while 
another  lady  accompanies  her  on  the  harp.  The  Isis  of  the  ancient  Egyptians  was 
their  chief  female  deity.  She  was  the  sister  and  wife  of  Osiris,  jnarriages  be- 
tween brother  and  sister  being  at  that  time  permitted.  Her  worship  was  uni- 
versal throughout  Egypt,  particularly  at  Philae  and  at  Bubastis  on  the  Nile,  and 
the  annual  inundations  of  that  stream  were  supposed  to  be  caused  by  her  tears. 
At  her  death  the  Egyptians  believed  that  she  was  translated  to  the  heavens  and 
reincarnated  in  the  star  Sothis,  which  we  know  as  Sirius  or  the  Dog  Star.  Isis 
was  served  in  her  temples  by  priestesses  of  her  own  sex,  one  of  whom  the  painter 


FROM  A PAINTING  BY  JOSEPH  COOMANS. 

THE  SMILE. 


represents,  enthroned  at  the  foot  of  an  altar,  on  the  brink  of  the  fountain  or  pond 
of  the  temple.  Her  long  hair  is  plaited  in  narrow  plaits;  on  her  forehead  she 
wears  a golden  serpent,  the  symbol  of  eternity,  and  she  reposes  on  the  skin  of  a 
leopard,  one  of  the  innumerable  animals  sacred  to  the  Egyptian  gods.  The  birds 
at  her  feet  are  sacred  ibises,  which,  like  cats,  were  held  to  be  especially  holy 
members  of  the  world  of  nature,  and  were  cherished  and  protected  in  the  temples. 

147 


Etienne  Bonneau  was  a native  of  Chanteloup  in  the  Nievre,  and  his  great  talent 
and  rapid  progress  made  him  a favorite  pupil  with  his  master,  Alexandre  Cabanel. 
He  died  young,  in  1881,  but  had  already  made  a high  mark  and  was  regarded 
and  regretted  as  one  of  the  coming  leaders  in  modern  French  art. 


FROM  A PAINTING  BY  EDOUARD  BISSON. 


LA  CIGALE. 
148 


Joseph  Coomans,  the  father  of  the  Misses  Heva  and  Diana  Coomans,  was  a 
Belgian  artist,  whose  biography  will  be  found  in  full  in  a previous  division  of  this 
work.  “ The  Smile”  is  one  of  his  favorite  and  enormously  popular  Pompeiian  sub 


FROM  A PAINTING  BY  EMILE  BAYARD. 

AN  AFFAIR  OF  HONOR. 

jects,  a lady  reclining  upon  a divan  and  casting  at  some  admirer  a glance  of  invi- 
tation and  encouragement.  It  is  one  of  the  most  characteristic  of  this  class  of 
works  which  the  painter  produced  during  his  long  and  incessantly  active  career. 
Edouard  Bisson,  in  “La  Cigale,”  gives  another  interpretation  to  an  old  fable  of 
which  we  have  already  given  versions  by  several  different  artists.  In  this  case, 
they  depicted  the  joyful  and  merry  period  of  the  poor  grasshopper’s  life.  Bisson 
deals  with  its  tragic  side.  The  Spring  ablaze  with  flowers,  the  Summer  basking 
in  the  bland  beams  of  the  sun,  the  Autumn  fragrant  with  its  rich  harvests  have 
passed;  the  cruel  Winter,  against  which  the  Cigale  made  no  provision,  had  arrived, 
and  her  gay  songs  are  hushed  as  she  shivers,  shelterless,  in  the  snow.  The  artist 
is  a Parisian,  a pupil  of  the  Ecole  des  Beaux  Arts,  and  a popular  painter  of  senti- 
mental and  decorative  subjects.  The  “Wood  Nymph  Reposing”  is  one  of  the  fine 
studies  of  the  nude  of  Emmanuel  Benner.  This  picture  was  exhibited  at  the  Salon 
of  1881  and  is  esteemed  the  artist’s  masterpiece.  It  was  by  it  that  he  secured  his 
first  medal. 


149 


X. 


Several  years  ago  death  removed  from  the  Paris  art  world  one  of  its  most 
curious  characters  in  Charles  Francis  Edouard  de  Beaumont.  He  was  born  at 
Lannion,  in  1821,  and  was  the  son  of  a sculptor.  His  father  taught  him  to  draw, 
and  sent  him  then  to  the  painter  A.  F.  Boisselier  to  continue  his  studies.  Antoine 
Felix  Boisselier  was  a painter  of  history  and  historical  landscapes,  an  artist  of 
sound  technique  and  a good  master.  Influenced  by  him  de  Beaumont  at  first  took 
to  landscape  painting,  in  which  field  he  made  his  debut  at  the  Salon  of  1838.  Some 
three  years  later  he  turned  his  attention  to  mythological  and  allegorical  subjects, 
in  which  his  success  was  soon  assured.  He  delineated  the  female  figure  with  the 
most  seductive  grace,  and  was  a pure  and  charming  colorist.  Painting  in  water- 
colors  and  in  oils  with  equal  facility,  his  works  found  a ready  market,  and  he  also 
prospered  by  contributing  illustrations  to  various  publications.  But  the  man  was 
of  a sensitive  nature,  and  disappointment  of  his  ambition  soured  him.  Year  after 
year  he  exhibited  at  the  Salon  without  receiving  official  recognition,  and  he  was 
nearly  fifty  years  of  age  before  he  received  his  first  medal.  This  encouragement 


FROM 


riNG  B*  C.  £.  OE  BEAUMONT. 


A NEST  OF  SIRENS. 
150 


FROM  A PAINTING  BY  N.  SICHEL. 

ALCESTE. 

came  too  late.  He  had  become  a recluse  and  a misanthrope.  But  for  the  per- 
suasions of  Alexandre  Dumas,  who  was  his  closest  and  almost  his  only  friend,  he 
would  not  have  exhibited  at  all.  He  lived  alone,  among  his  ancient  arms  and  cos- 
tumes, of  which  he  was  a passionate  collector,  working  steadily  to  distract  his 
thoughts  in  his  solitude,  and  disdaining  the  handsome  returns  the  labors  of  his 

151 


FROM  A PAINTING  BY  AUGUST  MANDLICH. 


THE  SILHOUETTE. 

1 52 


I 


FROM  A PAINTING  BY  LOUIS  PRIOU. 

“CHERRY-RIPE.” 

gifted  pencil  brought  in,  sinking  into  ever  deeper  gloom  until,  without  being  posi- 
tively insane,  as  the  great  landscape  painter  Theodore  Rousseau  became  from  the 
same  cause,  he  grew  into  a monomaniac  on  the  subject  of  the  injustice  with  which 
he  was  treated  and  which  he  regarded  as  the  result  of  an  organized  conspiracy.  In 
1877  he  sent  to  the  Salon  “A  Nest  of  Sirens,”  which  created  a furor.  The  beauty 
of  the  figures,  the  grace  of  the  composition,  and  the  charm,  of  the  color  rendered 
it  one  of  the  pictures  of  the  year.  The  subject  is  the  endeavor  of  the  sisters  of  the 
sea  to  lure  the  bark  of  Ulysses  to  wreck  upon  the  reefs.  The  decoration  of  the 
Legion  of  Honor  was  the  result  of  this  superb  work,  but  even  this  did  not  tempt 
the  painter  from  his  course.  He  persisted  in  his  bitter  moodiness  until  his  death. 
Among  his  later  productions  were  several  series  of  beautiful  water-color  drawings, 
to  illustrate  luxurious  editions  of  “ Bluebeard”  and  other  fairy-tales. 

Alceste,  the  heroine  of  Nathaniel  Sichel’s  picture,  was  the  daughter  of  Pelias 
and  the  wife  of  Admetus,  according  to  mythology.  She  was  devoted  to  her  hus- 
band, who  was  one  of  the  Argonants,  and  a King  in  Thessaly,  and  when  he  was 
threatened  with  death  she  surrendered  her  own  life  to  save  his,  her  name  thus 
becoming  among  the  Greeks  a synonym  for  wifely  virtue  and  self-sacrifice.  To 
restore  this  model  matron  to  the  world  Hercules  descended  into  hell.  The  story 
of  Alceste  provided  the  foundation  for  one  of  the  principal  tragedies  of  Euripides, 
more  than  four  centuries  before  the  Christian  Era. 

Leon  Auguste  Hodebert  was  born  at  Saint-Michel-sur-Loire,  in  the  Depart- 
153 


ment  of  Indre-et-Loire,  and  was  a pupil  in  Paris  of  Galembert.  He  is  an  esteemed 
painter  of  portraits  and  a master  of  the  figure.  His  picture,  representing  a model 
preparing  to  pose  for  an  artist  by  whom  she  has  been  engaged,  was  his  contribu- 
tion to  the  Salon  of  1893.  In  his  “ Leda”  Emmanuel  Benner  shows  the  beautiful 


FROM  A PAINTING  BY  JOSEPH  COOMAN9. 

CANDOR. 


FROM  A PAINTING  BY  DIANA  COOMANS. 


THE  ELEGY. 


wife  of  Tyndarus  and  mother  of  Castor  and  Pollux  seated  on  the  river  bank  arrang- 
ing her  hair  after  her  bath,  while  the  enamored  Jupiter,  full  of  the  eagerness  of 
passion,  approaches  her  on  the  water  in  the  guise,  which  he  has  assumed,  of  a 
swan.  “ The  Fisher”  by  William  Kray  is  one  of  his  pictures  founded  on  the  legend 
of  .the  Rhine.  This  tale  recites  how  a fisherman  once  inspired  a water  sprite  with 
such  a love  for  him  that  she  could  not  overcome  it.  In  order  to  secure  possession 
of  him,  she  came,  while  he  was  fishing,  up  on  the  bank  of  the  river  and  held  him  in 

155 


MADONNA  AND  CHILD. 


AT  THE  FOUNTAIN. 


FROM  A PAINTING  BY  0.  GRAEF. 

THE  SOUL  OF  THE  WATER  DRAGON. 


FROM  A PICTURE  BY  MLLE.  HEVA  COOMANS. 

YOUTH’S  SUNNY  HOURS. 


such  thraldom  by  her  charms  that  he  did  not  notice  the  rising  of  the  tide  until  it 
was  too  late,  when  the  waters  engulfed  him  and  his  temptress  carried  him  away 
to  her  cavern  deep  under  the  waves. 

The  ancient  Egyptians  held  their  dead  in  the  most  devout  reverence.  Those 
even  of  the  poorest  were  embalmed  with  many  ceremonies,  and  in  every  wealthy 
house  was  a private  temple  in  which  the  statues  of  the  departed  were  worshipped. 
Elegiac  music  and  songs  were  the  accompaniment  of  these  ceremonials.  The  pic- 
ture by  Miss  Coomans  represents  some  Egyptian  princess  who  has  lost  one  whom 
she  has  reverenced  or  loved,  and  to  whom,  as  she  sits  in  the  throne  chair  of  her 
house,  her  slaves  sing  the  elegy  to  the  dead.  In  1862  the  literary  world  of  France 
was  treated  to  a sensation.  It  consisted  in  a romance  entitled  “Salammbo,”  writ- 
ten by  Gustave  Flaubert,  which  in  the  most  daring  and  realistic  manner  revived 
the  life  of  ancient  Carthage,  at  the  period  of  the  Punic  War,  and  provided  a model 
upon  which  numberous  realistic  novelists  have  built  themselves  up.  “ Salammbo’ 
took  its  title  from  the  heroine  of  the  story,  a weird  creation  who  has  furnished  i 
type  which  many  painters  have  essayed  to  realize.  One  of  the  most  successful  oi 
these  attempts  is  that  of  Jules  Jean  Baptiste  Toulot,  a pupil  of  Gerome  and  a 
painter  of  the  figure  of  much  power.  He  represents  Flaubert’s  heroine  as  she  is 
aDcut  to  enter>  her  bath,  receiving  the  caresses  of  her  pet  serpent.  “At  the 
Fountain,”  by  Gaston  C.  Saintpierre,  is  a study  of  an  Algerian  girl,  one  of  his  sou 
venirs  of  African  travel. 


159 


Gustav  Graef  is  a distinguished  German  artist,  born  in  1821  at  Konigsberg, 
Prussia.  He  was  a pupil  of  Professor  Hildebrandt  and  Schadow  at  Dusseldorf,  and 
made  his  first  success  with  subjects  derived  from  the  “ Nibelung”  and  other  Ger- 
man legends.  He  left  Dusseldorf  to  study  in  Antwerp,  Paris,  Munich,  and  Italy 
successively,  and  while  he  became  a strong  and  popular  portrait  painter  he 
adhered  for  his  subject-pictures  mainly  to  the  national  legendary  lore  and  fairy- 
tales. He  has  painted  also  a number  of  decorative  compositions  of  a historical 
character,  and  developed  Biblical  and  mythological  motives.  “ The  Soul  of  the 
Water  Dragon”  is  an  old  folk-tale  in  Germany.  A malignant  witch,  to  be  revenged 
on  a queen  who  has  treated  her  with  disdain,  transforms  her  daughter  into  a water 
dragon.  The  young  prince  who  is  betrothed  to  the  princess  swears  to  restore  her. 
His  good  fairy  consents  to  assist  him,  under  condition  that  he  suffer  her  to  meta- 
morphose him  into  a raven.  He  consents.  Advised  by  the  fairy  how  to  proceed, 
he  seeks  the  stream  where  his  enchanted  sweetheart  has  her  lair,  and  finds  her 
sleeping  among  the  reeds.  As  directed  by  the  fairy  he  pecks  out  one  of  the  drag- 
on’s eyes  and  then  seizes  its  dorsal  fin  with  his  iron  beak,  when  the  hideous,  scaly 


*ROM  A PAINTING  BY  BERTHA  YERREE. 

A DREAM  OF  ROSEA. 

skin  comes  off  and  the  princess  stands  forth  in  all  her  beauty.  At  the  same 
moment,  by  a spell  of  the  fairy,  the  wicked  witch  enters  into  the  skin  of  the  mon- 
ster and  becomes  a terrible  land  dragon.  Next  the  prince  is  restored  to  his  human 
form,  arms  himself,  goes  forth  and  slays  the  dragon,  and  being  duly  united  with 
the  princess  all  live  happy  ever  after  in  the  good  old  style. 

160 


On  the  terrace  of  an  Italian  villa  of  the  later  Roman  period,  which  overlooks 
the  sea,  three  young  girls  idle  away  the  summer  hours.  One  stretches  out  on  the 
marble  bench,  smelling  a flower  as  she  listens  to  the  sweet  notes  a companion 
evokes  from  a double  flute,  while  the  third  lounges  at  her  side,  with  one  hand  rest- 
ing on  her  lute.  Miss  Coomans  has  made  a charming  picture  indeed,  out  of  very 


FROM  A PAINTING  BY  W.  KRAY. 

WINTER. 

161 


FROM  A PAINTING  BY  JULES  AVIAT. 

A REVELATION. 

simple  material,  in  “Youth’s  Sunny  Hours.”  In  “A  Dream  of  Roses,”  a young 
girl,  reclining  on  a couch  after  her  bath,  covered  with  a furred  robe,  indulges  in 
one  of  those  visions  which  an  interesting  novel  has  the  power  of  inspiring,  and 
which  we  know  as  day-dreams.  The  artist  is  the  wife  of  a well-known  French 
painter  who  has  won  distinction  at  the  Salon.  “ A Naiad”  is  one  of  the  most 
characteristic  and  expressive  of  the  ideal  pictures  of  Charles  Landelle.  It  was  first 
exhibited  at  the  Salon  of  1882.  The  Naiades  were,  in  Grecian  mythology,  the 
nymphs  of  the  fresh-water  lakes,  streams,  and  springs,  and  part  of  their  duty  was 

tC2 


to  attend  to  the  nourishment  of  the  plants  and  flowers  which  bordered  the  waters 
to  whose  service  they  were  bound.  Jules  Aviat  was  born  at  Brienne-le-Chateau, 
in  the  Department  of  Aube,  and  is  a pupil  of  E.  Hebert,  Leon  Bonnat,  and  La- 
france.  His  female  portraits  are  especially  esteemed,  although  he  is  also  strong  in 
male  portraiture.  His  imaginative  pictures  are  always  graceful,  refined,  decorative 


FROM  A PAINTING  BY  JOSEPH  COOMANS. 

SATISFACTION. 


in  treatment,  and  charmingly  delicate  in  color.  “ A Revelation”  is  a typical  work. 
In  it  a young  Greek  girl,  contemplating  herself  in  a hand-mirror,  arrives  for  the 
first  time  at  the  conclusion  that  she  is  as  beautiful  as  she  has  wished  herself  to  be. 
A girlish  coquette,  revelling  in  the  reminiscence  of  some  new  conquest,  is  the  sub- 
ject of  the  picture  by  Joseph  Coomans.  The  heroine  is  a type  of  the  blonde  beauty 
of  the  women  of  Greek  origin  or  antecedents  who  bore  away  the  palm  for  loveli- 
ness in  Pompeii  in  its  prime,  when  beauty  was  worshipped  there  second  only  to  the 
gods. 

Although  he  resides  permanently  in  Paris,  America  claims  Julius  L.  Stewart  as 
one  of  her  own  artists,  on  the  score  of  birth.  He  was  born  in  Philadelphia.  His 
father  was  a banker,  who  settled  in  Paris  in  order  to  conduct  the  European  busi- 
ness of  his  banking  house,  and  his  son  was  educated  in  Paris.  The  banker  Stewart 
was  a great  art-lover,  and  one  of  the  very  first  patrons  in  France  of  Fortuny,  Rai- 
mond  de  Madrazo,  and  Zamacois,  for  he  was  especially  fond  of  the  brilliant  and 
audacious  modern  Spanish  school.  As  young  Stewart  positively  declined  to  be 


made  a banker,  and  asserted  his  intention  to  become  a painter,  he  was  given  his 
course.  He  had  probably  been  inspired  to  his  resolution  by  the  artistic  surround- 
ings of  his  father’s  house.  At  any  rate,  he  studied  under  Zamacois,  Madrazo,  and 
Gerome,  but  his  innate  talent  broke  a path  for  itself,  and  his  later  works  suggest 


FROM  A PAINTING  BY  J.  L.  8T EWART. 


SPRING. 


none  of  his  masters.  He  created  a style  of  his  own  which  has  been  received  in 
Paris,  London,  and  America  as  thoroughly  original.  He  first  exhibited  at  the 
Salon  in  1878,  and  since  then  has  received  many  awards  of  merit.  His  “Spring” 
is  one  of  his  higher  compositions,  and  was  painted  for  a decorative  purpose  J. 
Albert  Begas  is  a German  artist  and  comes  of  a family  of  painters  all  the  members 
of  which  have  achieved  distinction. 


A SUMMER  TOILET. 


165 


XI. 


The  odalisque  in  Louis  Courtat’s  picture  is  dreaming  away  a drowsy  day,  lulled 
by  the  monotonous  melody  of  the  Turkish  mandolin  with  whose  strings  her  slave 
girl  toys  with  listless  fingers.  The  artist  was  born  in  Paris  in  1847.  He  was 
a pupil  of  Cabanel,  and  with  his  first  exhibit  at  the  Salon,  in  1873,  won  his 
first  medal.  In  each  of  the  two  succeeding  years  he  took  other  medals  which 
placed  him  in  the  position  known  at  the  French  exhibitions  as  being  hors  concours , 
or  out  of  competition  for  any  medals  except  that  known  as  the  medal  of  honor.  In 
1878  another  honor  fell  to  Courtat  in  the  purchase  by  the  State  of  his  picture 
“ Spring”  which  is  now  in  the  collection  of  the  Luxembourg.  “ The  Odalisque”  was 
his  Salon  picture  for  1882.  “ Undine”  was  the  Salon  picture  of  Jules  Lefebvre  for 

1882.  Since  the  Baron  de  la  Motte  Fouque  wrote  his  exquisite  tale,  “ Undine,”  the 
type  was  assumed  a personal  rather  than  a general  character,  and  the  “ Undine”  of 
the  painters  is  no  longer  any  spirit  of  the  waves  but  the  one  spirit  of  the  famous 
romance.  C.  A.  Lenoir,  the  painter  of  “ The  Novel,”  is  a Parisian,  young  and  of  ris- 
ing reputation  since  he  began  to  exhibit  three  or  four  years  ago.  L£on  Perrault 
represents  Venus  enthroned  in  her  chariot,  in  which  she  traverses  her  natal 


FROM  A PAINTING  BY  CARL  MARR. 


THE  WANDERING  JEW. 
JBR 


FROM  A PAINTING  BY  HELENE  RICHTER. 


PETRUCCIO. 

1G7 


FROM  A PAINTING  BY  C.  A.  LENOIR. 

THE  NOVEL. 

waves.  N.  Sichel’s  “Bayadere”  is  an  Oriental  dancing-girl  who  carries,  the 
bottle  of  water  the  balancing  of  which  on  her  head  is  one  of  the  features 
of  her  sensuous  and  alluring  performance.  Fritz  Zuber-Buhler  in  “The  Dew” 
represents  her  as  a lovely  spirit  almost  spectral  in  her  pale  beauty,  who  flies  over 
the  landscape  which  is  shimmering  in  the  moonbeams,  shaking  out  from  the  tresses 
of  her  golden  hair  the  pearls  of  moisture  which  fall  upon  and  refresh  the  earth. 
It  is  a charming  conceit,  and  rendered  with  a sentiment  and  feeling  which  rank  it 
among  the  very  best  works  the  artist  has  produced. 

The  sensation  of  the  Paris  Salon  for  1878  was,  paradoxical  as  it  may  seem,  a 
painting  which  was  not  there.  It  was  a canvas  by  Henri  Gervex,  and  was  founded 
-on  the  last  lines  of  Alfred  de  Musset's  famous  poem,  “Rolla.”  It  was  a master- 
piece, one  of  the  few  real  great  works  of  modern  art.  Artists  and  critics  alike 
loaded  it  with  applause,  and  hailed  the  painter  with  acclamations  as  he  took  his 
afternoon  promenade.  But  the  Administration  of  the  Fine  Arts,  the.  Government 
bureau  which  controls  the  official  business  of  the  Salon,  happened  to  be  in  a par- 
ticularly censorious  mood  that  spring,  and  excluded  the  picture.  The  artist  then 
exhibited  it  in  the  gallery  of  a dealer  in  the  Rue  de  la  Chauss^e-d’Antin,  where  all 
Paris  flocked  to  see  it.  It  was  probably  the  most  successful  private  exhibition  ever 
made  in  Paris,  and  it  laid  a secure  foundation  for  the  artist’s  fortune. 

168 


FROM  A PAINTING  BY  L^ON  PERRAULT. 


VENUS  IN  HER  CAR. 
169 


FROM  A PAINTING  BY  N.  8ICHEL. 

A BAYADERE. 


170 


Henri  Gervex  was  born  in  Paris  in  1852.  He  commenced  to  study  art  under 
the  venerable  master  Pierre  Nicolas  Brisset,  then  studied  under  Fromentin,  and 
finally  concluded  his  course  under  Cabanel.  In  1873  he  exhibited  for  the  first  time 
“A  Bather  Sleeping,”  a remarkable  study  of  the  nude.  The  next  year  he  took  a 
medal  of  the  second  class,  with  the  “Satyr  Sporting  with  a Bacchante,”  a picture 
which  was  purchased  by  the  State  for  the  Luxembourg.  In  1876  he  was  medalled 
again,  for  a powerful  realistic  picture,  representing  the  surgeons  holding  an  autopsy 

171 


THE  DEW. 


FROM  A PAINTINO  BY  CH.  CHAPLIN. 


MODESTY. 

172 


on  the  body  of  a patient  in  the  Hotel  Dieu  hospital.  In  1877  the  State  purchased 
another  of  his  pictures,  a communion  scene  in  a village  church  which  is  now  in  the 
Government  collection.  All  this  while  his  fame  had  been  rising  steadily,  but  the 
struggle  was  still  severe  when  the  sensation  caused  by  “ Rolla”  brought  it  to  a 
climax,  and  added  a new  master  to  the  roll  of  honor  of  French  art.  Commissions 
for  portraits  rolled  in,  his  pictures  were  sold  from  the  easel,  he  received  so  many 
orders  for  the  decoration  of  private  houses  that  he  was  compelled  to  refuse  a portion 

173 


THE  YOUNG  CONNOISSEUR. 


of  them,  and  two  years  after  the  State  had  rejected  his  “ Rolla”  it  anointed  the  wound 
with  balm  by  appointing  him  to  paint  the  great  decorative  panels  for  the  Mayor’s 
Office  of  the  Nineteenth  Arrondissement.  This  engagement  secured  him  also  ad- 


FROM  A PAINTING  BY 


LORELEI  AND  IGORNE. 

174 


FROM  A PAINTING  BY  DIANA  COOMANS. 

ATTENTION. 


mission  into  the  Legion  of  Honor.  When  “ The  Masked  Model”  appeared  at  the 
Salon,  it  created  a sensation  second  only  to  that  of  the  picture  which  did  not 
appear.  It  became  popularly  rumored  that  the  original  was  a great  lady,  who  had 

175 


~ROM  A PAINTING  BY  A.  WAGNER. 

THE  RETURN  FROM  THE  FIELDS. 
176 


consented  to  pose  for  the  artist  under  condition  that  her  face  should  be  covered  so 
as  to  prevent  her  from  being  identified,  and  this  added  piquant  interest  to  the 
magnificent  art  displayed  in  the  picture.  As  a matter  of  fact,  however,  it  was  only 
the  figure  of  a professional  model.  While  posing  for  Gervex  she  had,  in  a spirit  of 
fun,  put  on  a ball  mask  which  was  hanging  to  the  wall,  and  the  effect  was  so  origi- 
nal that  the  artist  used  it  for  his  finished  picture.  “The  Young  Connoisseur,” 
by  Paul  Prosper  Tillier,  is  a fair-haired  girl  who  examines  an  etching  or 
engraving.  The  artist  is  a native  of  Baupere  in  the  Vendee  and  a pupil  of 
Leon  Cogniet.  William  Kray  illustrates  another  page  of  the  Rhine  legends 


PROM  A PAINTING  BY  C.  SCHWENINGER,  JR. 

A QUIET  NOOK. 


by  his  “ Lorelei  and  Igorne.  ” In  “Attention”  Miss  Coomans  shows  a Greek 
girl,  who  has  been  preparing  an  offer  of  incense  and  flowers  to  her  household 
deity,  on  the  terrace,  and  who  interrupts  it  to  watch  curiously  something  which  is 
occurring  or  some  one  who  is  passing  in  the  street  below.  “ Fragility”  is  one  of  a 
series  of  decorative  panels  painted  by  J.  F.  Ballavoine  for  the  boudoir  of  a Paris 
mansion.  The  subject  is  a fair  social  enchantress  who,  after  a great  ball,  has  dis- 
robed and  casts  herself  wearily  on  her  couch,  and  in  doing  so  has  broken  the  pearl 
ornaments  she  wears  in  her  hair.  A natural  idea  might  suggest  itself  to  a possibly 
cynical  observer  that  the  jewel  was  not  the  only  fragile  object  in  the  picture. 
C.  Schweninger,  Jr.,  is  the  son  of  the  eminent  German  landscape  painter,  Carl 
Schweninger.  The  elder  Schweninger  was  born  at  Vienna  in  1818,  and  was  one  of 
the  most  esteemed  painters  in  his  line  of  his  time.  His  son  was  his  pupil,  but  also 

177 


FROM  A PAINTING  BY  EDOUARD  BISSON. 

SPRING’S  FIRST  FLOWERS. 


studied  the  figure  at  the  Vienna  and  Munich  Academies,  and  combines  them,  as  in 
“ A Quiet  Nook,”  in  fine  idyllic  feeling.  “ Spring’s  First  Flowers”  is  another  of  the 
decorative  fancies  of  Edouard  Bisson.  The  flowers  are  Cupidons,  who  have  been 
warmed  to  life  by  the  gentle  atmosphere  of  the  season.  The  dream  of  Joseph 

178 


Coomans’  Pompeiian  maiden  is  evidently  one  of  those  which  come  by  day  to  young 
ladies  not  insensible  to  the  sentiment  of  love. 

Edouard  Dantan,  who  was  born  in  Paris  in  1848,  seemed  to  come  into  art  as 
into  a heritage.  His  grandfather,  who  had  been  a soldier  under  the  First  Empire, 
was  distinguished  as  a sculptor  in  wood.  His  father,  the  eldest  son  of  the  veteran, 
born  at  St.  Cloud,  where  he  died  in  1878,  in  1798  became  a sculptor  in  marble  and 
left  many  remarkable  decorative  works  and  statues.  His  uncle,  the  younger  son, 
also  became  a sculptor,  and  was  famous  especially  for  his  caricature  portraits  in 
clay  and  bronze,  and  for  his  burlesque  and  satirical  portraits  in  crayon  of  current 
celebrities  and  notorieties.  Edouard  Dantan  entered  the  E'cole  des  Beaux  Arts  as 
a student,  and  under  the  mastership  of  Pils  and  Lehmann  made  such  rapid  progress 
that  in  1867  the  Government  commissioned  him  for  some  important  decorative  com- 
positions. Two  years  later  he  showed  his  first  picture  at  the  Salon,  a picture 
which  had  somewhat  curious  adventures.  In  1870  the  artist  had  gone  to  Paris  to 
volunteer  in  the  army  against  the  Prussians.  He  left  his  studio  at  St.  Cloud  locked 
up.  When  he  returned  to  the  town  he  found  that  the  studio  had  been  burned  down 
during  the  Prussian  occupation  and  supposed  the  picture  had  been  destroyed.  Some 
years  after,  however,  it  was  by  accident  found  at  Versailles,  rolled  up  around  a 
broomstick.  It  had  been  cut  from  the  stretcher  when  the  invaders  sacked  the 
studio,  and  carried  off  by  some  soldier  who  probably  intended  to  keep  it,  but  who 
afterward,  when  the  Germans  evacuated  Versailles,  forgot  it  and  left  it  behind. 


FROM  A PAINTING  BY  J08EPH  COOMAN8. 

DREAMING. 

179 


FROM  A PAINTING  BY  MLLE.  OIANA  COOMANS. 

A POMPEIIAN  FETE. 

In  1874  Dantan  received  his  first  Salon  medal,  for  a picture  of  a monk  making 
a wood-carving,  which  the  State  purchased  for  the  Nantes  Museum.  In  1875  he 
won  a gold  medal  at  the  Rouen  Exposition  with  a picture  which  was  purchased  by 
the  city  for  its  municipal  museum.  In  1880  he  took  another  Salon  medal  for  a 
picture  of  his  father  sculpturing  a bas-relief,  which  the  State  bought  for  the  Lux- 
embourg. This  seemed  to  give  a new  direction  to  his  talent,  and  he  painted  a 
number  of  pictures  representing  these  artistic  interiors,  all  of  which  enjoyed  great 

180 


success.  “ Modelling  from  Life”  represents  the  workshop  of  a maker  of  plaster 
casts.  In  the  background  are  seen  casts  from  the  antique;  one  of  a figure  by 
Michel  Angelo,  and  one  of  a head  by  Donatello;  the  mortar  with  its  swinging  pestle 
for  pulverizing  plaster,  sacks  of  plaster,  and  the  tubs,  bowls,  sieves,  and  the  like 
used  in  the  trade.  The  mould  maker  has  been  taking  a cast  from  life.  The  nude 
model  is  perched  on  the  stand,  and  the  master  is  removing  the  first  half  of  the 
mould  from  her  leg,  while  his  assistant  holds  the  second  section  in  place.  These 
casts  from  life  of  arms  and  legs  are  very  generally  used  in  the  preliminary  drawing 
classes  of  the  art  schools.  Dantan,  as  this  picture  shows,  was  a realist,  but  in  the 
purest  spirit.  He  enjoys  high  and  profitable  repute  as  a portrait  painter  also. 

A part  of  F.  A.  Clement’s  labor  during  his  long  sojourn  in  Egypt  was  in 
painting  pictures  for  the  uncle  of  the  Khedive.  He  was  only  partially  paid  for 
these,  and  after  his  return  to  France  instituted  a long  and  costly  suit  against  the 


JtKJM  A PAINTING  BY  MME.  JACQUELINE  COMERRE-PATON 

INGENUOUSNESS. 

old  Egyptian  voluptuary  for  the  balance.  .Unfortunately  for  him  the  Khedive  was 
deposed  and  pensioned  off  in  exile,  so  the  poor  artist  had  only,  his  trouble  for  his 
pains,  for  the  ruin  of  Halim  Pacha,  the  uncle,  followed  his  nephew’s  deposition. 
One  of  the  last  pictures  Halim  Pacha  ordered  from  him  was  a portrait  of  a new 
Circassian  slave  whom  he  had  bought,  but  the  artist  refused  to  deliver  it  and  took 
it  to  France  with  him,  where  he  finished  and  sent  it  to  the  Salon  of  1880.  It  .proved 
extremely  successful,  and  won  the  artist  much  merited  credit.  “ A Circassian 
Woman  in  the  Harem”  is  now  in  one  of  the  French  provincial  museums. 

181 


XII. 


In  the  Salon  of  1884  appeared  a painting  by  a well-known  and  popular 
artist  entitled  “An  Affair  of  Honor.”  It  represented  a due*  with  rapiers  be- 
tween two  women.  The  scene  was  laid  in  a well-known  spot  in  the  Bois  de 
Boulogne  where  there  have  been  countless  encounters  of  this  character.  The 
combatants,  their  seconds  and  friends  were  all  women  of  the  class  which  in- 
habits that  half-world  for  which  Alexandre  Dumas  the  younger  invented  the  name. 
Each  personage  was  a striking  portrait  of  some  prosperous  courtesan,  and  the 
women,  stripped  naked  to  the  waist,  were  both  living  adventurers  of  notorious 
recklessness.  The  popularity  of  the  picture  was  enormous.  It  travelled  all  over 
the  world,  and  was  so  great  that  the  artist  followed  it  with  a companion  and 
sequel — “The  Reconciliation.”  Here  one  of  the  cocottes  has  fallen  wounded, 
and  her  late  antagonist  forgets  her  anger  and  kneels  sympathizingly  beside  her,  while 
one  of  the  seconds  calls  up  the  coach,  which  at  a distance  has  awaited  the  outcome 


>M  « PA  NTING  BY  EMIl£  BAYARD. 

THE  RECONCILIATION. 

182 


THE  BROKEN  PITCHER. 
183 


FROM  A PAINTING  BY  A.  QAMBA  OE  PREYDOUR. 

THE  BLOOM  OF  YOUTH. 
184 


FROM  A PAINTING  BY  HANS  MAKART. 

DIANA’S  HUNTING  PARTY. 


of  the  fight.  The  painter  of  this  picture,  Emile  Bayard,  was  born  at  Ferte-sous- 
Jouarre,  in  the  Department  of  Seine-et-Marne,  in  1837.  In  1853  he  entered  the  studio 
of  Cogniet.  He  was  poor,  and  supported  himself  by  designing  illustrations  for  books 
and  newspapers.  His  first  exhibits  at  the  Salon  were  of  drawings.  He  served  as 
a volunteer  during  the  Franco-Prussian  war,  and  in  1870  exhibited  a superb  draw- 
ing representing  the  battle  of  Sedan.  This  drawing  made  his  reputation.  It  was 
purchased  by  the  State,  and  won  for  him  the  decoration  of  the  Legion  of  Honor. 

Philippe  Parrot  is  an  esteemed  painter  in  France,  where  he  is  principally  em- 
ployed by  decorative  and  idyllic  subjects.  He  was  born  at  the  village  of  Excideuil, 
in  the  Dordogne,  and  his  early  life  was  a long  struggle  with  poverty.  He  con- 
trived to  support  himself  while  studying  at  the  Ecole  des  Beaux  Arts  by  painting  on 
tea-caddies  and  cheap  fancy  boxes  for  the  holiday  season,  until  in  1868  he  won  a 
medal  at  the  Salon,  when  his  prospects  improved.  He  was  again  medalled  in  1870 
and  1872,  and  in  1878  won  another  badge  of  distinction  at  the  Exposition  Univer- 
selle.  His  “Spring”  is  an  excellent  example  of  his  sound  arid  conscientious  art. 
Georg  Papperitz  is  one  of  the  modern  German  artists  who  have  been  largely  in- 
fluenced by  the  French  school.  He  studied  originally  at  Munich,  where  he  indeed 
still  has  his  studio  and  home,  but  worked  also  in  Paris,  and  is  a regular  exhibitor 
at  the  French  exhibitions.  His  style  is  broad,  his  color  rich  and  harmonious,  and 
he  is  especially  happy  in  such  subjects  as  “An  Idyll,”  two  wood-nymphs,  one  of 
whom  pipes  a melody  of  evening  tribute  to  a bust  of  the  god  Pan,  while  the  land- 
scape darkens  in  the  fading  day  and  a new  moon  makes  a oale  crescent  in  the  sky. 

Jean  Jacques  Henner  has  been  called  the  Titian  of  modern  art,  and  in  the 
sense  of  a grand  devotion  to  color  and  a wonderful  power  in  the  painting  of  the  nude 
figure  he  has  a certain  sympathy  with  the  Italian  master.  But  he  is  also  a portrait 
painter  and  a painter  of  religious  subjects  of  supreme  force.  He  is  the  son  of  a 

185 


poor  workingman,  a carpenter,  of  Bernviller  in  Alsace,  and  tells  with  pride  and 
reverence  how  his  father  worked  far  into  the  night  and  stinted  himself  even  in  the 
necessaries  of  life  to  make  an  artist  of  him.  The  old  man  was  amply  repaid  when 


his  son  became  famous 
and  rich.  Henner  studied 
drawing  first  under  Charles 
Goutzwiller,  at  the  semi- 
nary at  Altkirch,  and  from 
there  passed  into  the  studio 
of  the  painter  Gabriel  Gue- 
rin in  Strasburg.  From 
Strasburg  he  went  to  Paris, 
where  he  had  Drolling  and 
Picot  for  masters,  and  in 
1858  the  old  father  had  no 
longer  the  necessity  to  as- 
sist him.  In  that  year  he 
won  the  Prix  de  Rome,  and 
for  four  years  was  support- 
ed by  the  French  Govern- 
ment while  he  continued  his 
studies.  “ Sleep”  was  his 
Salon  picture  for  1880  and 
was  the  success  of  the  year. 
He  commenced  to  win  his 
medals  in  1863,  and  has 
now  taken  a full  series; 
he  has  been  an  Officer  of 
the  Legion  of  Honor  since 
1878,  in  which  year  he  took 
a first-class  medal  at  the 
Universal  Exposition. 

Adolphe  Weisz,  the 
painter  of  “It  is  I!”  is  a 
Hungarian  by  birth,  from 
Buda,  but  studied  art  in 
Paris  unde  ' Jalabert.  He 
carried  away  a medal  at 
the  Salon  of  1875  and  has 
since  repeated  his  suc- 
cesses. The  sderie  of  his 
picture  is  a private  box  of 
the  Paris  Opera  House  on 
the  night  of  a masked  ball. 
His  heroine  has  been  flirt- 


THOM  * PAINTING  BY  JACQUES  WAGREZ. 

JULIET. 


ing  away  the  evening  with  a gallant  of  her  acquaintance  who  has  not  recognized 
her  under  her  mask.  The  hour  for  unmasking  has  arrived,  and  she  shows  her 
face  to  him  in  coquettish  mockery  at  the  manner  in  which  she  has  tricked  him. 

188 


“The  Cascade”  gives  another  specimen  from  the  brush  of  Emile  Munier,  who 
represents  the  sprite  of  the  falling  waters  bathed  in  the  spray  of  the  stream  of 
which  she  is  the  deity.  Among  the  studies  which  Jacques  Wagrez  has  made  of  the 


FROM  A PAINTING 


JOSEPH  COOMANS. 


PENSIVE. 

189 


FROM  A PAINTING  BY  A.  H.  BRAMTOT. 

BASHFUL  LOVE. 

picturesque  life  of  the  Middle  Ages  and  the  Renaissance,  none  has  been  more  fruit- 
ful than  that  which  he  has  devoted  to  the  story  of  Romeo  and  Juliet.  He  is  an 
ardent  reader  of  Shakespeare  and  spent  a long  time  in  Italy  gathering  material  for 
illustration  of  the  play  which,  of  all  others,  fascinated  him  most.  His  “ Julief"  is 
only  one  of  a number  of  the  finished  results. 

Writers  who  deal  with  the  subject  of  lace  invariably  allude  to  its  cobweb 

190 


structure,  but  it  may  be  questioned  whether  the  majority  of  them  are  aware  of  the 
actual  relation  between  the  weaver  of  the  web  and  the  weaver  of  the  lace,  as  it  was 
established  in  mythological  times.  According  to  the  classic  legend,  Arachne  was 
a beautiful  young  maiden  of  Lydia,  who  particularly  excelled  in  the  art  of  lace- 
making.  The  creations  of  her  skill  were  so  lovely  that  they  ensnared  the  hearts  of 
all  her  sex,  for  even  in  the  Golden  Age,  when  beauty  unadorned  was  supposed  to 
be  adorned  the  most,  the  congenital  love  of  woman  for  objects  of  personal  adorn- 
ment made  itself  felt.  By  an  accident  the  goddess  Minerva  happened  to  destroy 
one  of  her  laces  which  Arachne  esteemed  to  be  her  masterpiece,  and  the  poor 
artist,  rendered  frantic  by  despair,  committed  suicide  by  hanging  herself.  Minerva, 
in  atonement  for  the  wrong  she  had  done  her,  converted  her  into  a spider,  and  to 


FROM  A PAINTING  BY  GEORGES  ROCHEGROSSE. 

THE  KNIGHT  AMID  THE  FLOWERS. 

this  day  Arachne  weaves  her  mystic  web  as  she  did  in  the  past,  and  as  far  as  their 
love  of  lace  goes,  all  women  worship  her  now  as  they  did  of  old.  In  Le  Quesne’s 
picture,  the  nymphs  of  his  artistic  Arcadia  are  enjoying  their  entanglement  in  the 
silken  toils  of  their  transformed  sister,  and  those  who  are  not  already  entangled 
hurry  eagerly  forward  to  seek  the  same  filmy  bondage. 

Alfred  Henri  Bramtot  was  born  in  Paris,  and  is  a pupil  of  W.  A.  Bouguereau. 
That  he  was  a diligent  and  progressive  pupil  is  evidenced  by  the  fact  that  he  took 
the  Prix  de  Rome  for  painting  in  1879,  and  that  he  has  since  become  one  of  the 
notable  painters  of  the  figure  of  whom  France  has  just  cause  to  boast.  History 
and  religious  motives  occupy  his  chief  attention,  but  he  has  painted  many  beautiful 
genre  pictures  of  scenes  of  country  life  around  his  summer  villa.  “Bashful  Love” 
won  him  his  first  Salon  medal,  in  1879,  the  same  year  that  he  gained  the  Roman 

191 


prize.  The  scene  is  laid  at  one  of  those  public  wells  common  in  France.  The 
servant  from  a neighboring  country-house  has  come  to  get  water  from  the  spring, 
and  her  sweetheart,  who  has  been  working  in  the  garden,  takes  advantage  of  the 
opportunity  to  press  his  suit,  while  she  listens  modestly  to  his  arguments.  Terentia 
was  the  wanton  and  dissolute  first  wife  of  the  great  Roman  orator  Cicero,  whom  he 
afterward  repudiated  for  her  misconduct  and  who  became  a notorious  public  cour- 
tesan. The  artist,  Louis  Hierle,  was  born  at  l’Estrechure  in  the  Department  of 
Gard,  and  was  a pupil  of  Cabanel.  “ A Messenger  of  Love”  is  one  of  the  most 
lovely  of  Nathaniel  Sichel’s  productions.  “Sea-Gulls  and  Billows”  is  by  Henri 
Eugene  Delacroix,  a native  of  Solesmes  in  the  Nord  and  a pupil  of  Cabanel. 


THE  YOUNG  MODEL. 
193 


FROM  A PAINTING  BY  GABRIEL  MAX. 

LACRIMA. 


Gabriel  Max  is  one  of  the  most  eminent  artists  modern  Germany  has  produced. 
He  was  born  in  1840  in  Prague,  Bohemia,  and  was  the  son  of  a sculptor  of  great 
ability,  Joseph  Max.  Until  his  father  died,  when  he  was  fifteen  years  of  age,  the 
boy  worked  for  him  in  his  studio  and  so  gained  his  rudimentary  lessons  in  art  in  a 
practical  way.  After  a three  years'  course  at  the  Academy  of  Prague,  he  entered 
that  of  Vienna,  where  he  also  remained  three  years.  He  was  passionately  fond  of 
music,  and  this  led  him  to  make  a series  of  designs  suggested  by  the  works  of 

134 


Beethoven,  Mendelssohn,  and  others,  which  brought  him  great  praise  and  substan- 
tial patronage,  and  procured  him  the  means  to  go  to  Munich,  where  he  became  a 
pupil  of  Piloty,  in  1863.  He  remained  with  Piloty  until  1867,  when  he  established 
a studio  for  himself  in  Munich,  where  he  now  resides  and  works. 

One  of  the  well-known  pictures  of  William  Kray,  suggested  by  his  long  resi- 


IIOM  » »»'NTING  BY  W.  KRAY 


THE  VENETIAN  SWIMMING  SCHOOL. 

103 


dence  in  Venice,  is  “ The  Venetian  Swimming  School.”  “ The  Return  of  Spring 
is  painted  by  Edouard  Bisson.  Another  picture  of  the  decorative  feeling  of  line, 
composition,  and  color  is  J.  F.  Ballavoine’s  “Indiscreet  Butterflies.” 


THE  RETURN  OF  SPRING. 
IS6 


FROM  A PAINTING  BY  EDO'JARD  BISSON. 


FROM  A PAINTING  BY  W.  A.  BOUGUEREAU. 

THE  EARRINGS. 

197 


XIII. 


One  of  the  significant  events  in  modern  art  has  been  the  revival  in  Spain.  A 
conspicuous  figure  in  this  regeneratory  movement  has  been  Don  Jose  Casado  del 
Alisal,  who  is  a widely  known  painter  of  history  and  genre.  ■ Casado  del  Alisal  was 
born  in  Valencia,  and  entered  the  Academy  of  Madrid  as  a pupil  under  Frederic 
Madrazo.  Spain,  like  France,  has  a Government  fund  for  the  support  in  Italy  of 
art  students  who  gain  the  highest  standard  of  efficiency  possible  in  the  Madrid 
Academy,  and  in  i860  Casado  del  Alisal  won  the  Spanish  Prix  de  Rome,  which  en- 
titled him  to  his  course  of  study  of  the  Italian  masters.  He  has  been  decorated 
with  the  order  of  Isabella  the  Catholic,  which  corresponds  with  the  French  Legion 
of  Honor,  made  Painter  to  the  Court,  and  then  Director  of  the  Spanish  Academy 
at  Rome.  Yet  during  all  the  stress  imposed  upon  him  by  his  great  compositions, 
he  found  time  to  turn  to  more  modest  themes.  He  made  many  studies  of  the  re- 
mains of  the  Moorish  occupation  of  Spain  at  Grenada  and  elsewhere  in  Andalusia, 
and  his  “ Zaida,  the  Favorite,”  was  one  of  the  results  of  these  investigations. 

Some  twenty  miles  from  Rome,  on  the  side  of  Monte  Ripoli,  one  of  the  chain 


FROM  A PAINTING  BV  CASADO  DEL  ALISAL. 

ZAIDA,  THE  FAVORITE. 

198 


FROM  A PAINTING 


THE  SIREN  OF  TIVOLI. 


— 


FROM  A PAINTING  BY  EDOUARD  BISSON. 

A PRISONER. 

of  mountains  known  as  the  Apennines,  is  a wretched  modern  town  which  contains 
the  relics  of  a fine  rural  city  of  the  period  of  the  Roman  ascendancy.  Tivoli  was 
a famous  summer  resort  in  ancient  times,  and  travellers  now  visit  it  to  see  the  re- 
mains of  the  classical  period  which  it  contains.  One  of  its  objects  of  attention  is 

200 


FROM  A PAINTING  BY  A.  J.  CHANTRON. 

CUPID  BREAKING  HI?  BOW. 


VV 


FROM  A PAINTINO  BY  TONY  ROBERT-FLEURY. 

OPHELIA. 

a little  river  with  cascades  and  waterfalls,  quite  picturesque  and  attractive.  These 
are  supposed,  by  popular  legend,  to  be  presided  overby  a beautiful  and  fatal  siren, 
who  allures  men  to  the  banks  of  the  river  above  the  falls  in  order  to  precipitate 
them  to  their  death.  This  is  “ The  Siren  of  Tivoli”  which  William  Kray  paints. 
“A  Prisoner,”  by  Edouard  Bisson,  is  a very  willing  prisoner  indeed.  “Spring”  is 

202 


FROM  A PAINTING  BY  GUSTAV  CARL  LUDWIG  RICHTER. 

QUEEN  LOUISE  OF  PRUSSIA. 

a decorative  panel  by  Joseph  Eugene  Antoine  Bagues.  The  artist  is  a Parisian  by 
birth,  and  a pupil  of  E.  Laporte  and  J.  Lequien.  Maxime  Dastrigue  was  Iporn  at 
Castelnau-Magnoac  in  the  Department  of  the  Hautes-Pyr£n6es,  and  studied  in 
Paris  at  the  Ecole  des  Beaux  Arts  and  under  J.  L.  Gerome.  He  has  been  strongly 
influenced  in  his  subjects  by  his  master,  as  may  be  seen  in  “The  Bathing  Hour.” 

204 


THE  SWING. 
206 


FROM  A PAINTING  BV  JAN  VAN  BEERS. 

“IS  THAT  SO?” 

Nathaniel  Sichel’s  “Woman  of  Thebes”  is  an  Egyptian  of  the  old  royal  city  of 
the  Nile,  who  vends  pomegranates  in  the  street.  Paul  Nanteuil,  the  painter  of  “ At 
Her  Toilette,”  is  a grandson  of  the  great  French  designer  Celestin  Nanteuil,  one 
of  the  famous  artists  of  the  romantic  period.  He  was  born  in  Paris,  and  studied 
under  Hesse  and  L.  Cogniet.  Charles  L.  A.  Weisser  is  a young  Alsatian,  a graduate 
of  the  Paris  School  of  Art,  and  a painter  of  marked  ability.  “ The  Swing”  is  one 
of  the  quaint  pictures  of  everyday  life  which  the  pencil  of  Georges  Pierre  Marie 
Van  den  Bos  produces  with  such  happy  facility.  Jan  Van  Beers  is  a Belgian,  born 

207 


at  the  town  of  Lierre.  He  studied  first  at  the  Antwerp  Academy  and  then  settled 
in  Paris,  where  he  still  has  his  studio.  In  1879  he  first  appeared  at  the  Salon,  as  a 
painter  of  genre,  but  he  did  not  make  a genuine  and  profitable  hit  until  he  com- 
menced to  devote  himself  to  subjects  of  the  frivolous  life  of  the  town,  that  eternal 
masquerade  with  which  Parisians  divert  themselves.  “Is  that  so?”  is  a good  ex- 
ample of  them.  One  of  the  sirens  of  the  great  city  has  been  flirting  the  evening 
away  with  an  admirer.  He  escorts  her  home.  She  throws  off  her  costly  furred 
wrap  and  seats  herself,  while  he  renews  his  protestations  of  devotion;  and  his  only 


FROM  A PAINTING  BY  P.  TILLIER. 

A FLOWER  OF  THE  SHORE. 

reward  is  her  mocking  query  which  gives  its  title  to  the  picture.  “ A Flower  of 
the  Shore”  is  a pretty  decorative  conceit  of  Paul  Tillier. 

Edouard  Toudouze  is  a Parisian,  born  in  1848.  He  is  a nephew  of  the  excel- 
lent painter  Auguste  Leloir,  and  studied  art  under  his  uncle,  and  afterward  became 
a pupil  of  Pils.  In  1867  he  first  appeared  at  the  Salon,  with  an  historical  picture, 
and  entered  for  the  Prix  de  Rome  in  1871  and  won  it,  with  his  picture  “ CEdipus 
Blind.”  His  color  is  pure  and  tender,  and  he  is  a master  draughtsman.  Besides 
his  easel  pictures  he  has  executed  many  decorative  compositions  of  the  first  im- 
portance. Albert  Maignan  was  born  at  Beaumont,  Department  of  Sarthe,  in  1845, 
and  was  educated  for  the  law.  While  studying  for  this  profession  he  employed 
his  leisure  in  the  study  also  of  art,  entering  the  studio  of  Jules  Noel  as  an  amateur. 
From  the  atelier  of  Noel  he  passed  to  that  of  Luminais,  and  in  1867  commenced  to 
exhibit  £t  the  Salon.  His  “ Birth  of  the  Pearl”  was  a notable  Salon  exhibit. 
Maignan  has  been  a member  of  the  Legion  of  Honor  since  1883.  The  idea  of  “ In- 
nocence” is  embodied  by  the  painter  in  a maideni  who  plays  with  a serpent  which 
she  has  found  among  the  flowers  in  the  garden,  unconscious  of  the  peril  which 
lies  in  its  ungrateful  fangs.  The  artist,  Leon  Pierre  Urbain  Bourgeois,  was  born 

208 


FROM  A PAINTING  BY  W.  KRAY. 


NYMPHS  AT  PLAY. 


at  Nevers,  and  was,  successively,  a pupil  of  Cornu,  Hyppolite  Flandrin,  and  Cab- 
anel.  He  took  his  first  medal  in  1877.  Eisman-Semenowsky  is  a popular  young 
Russian-Polish  painter,  whose  studies  were  made  in  Munich  and  Paris,  and  who  is 
particularly  successful  in  such  coquettish  feminine  types  as  “Lisette.  ” The 
“Libellule”  of  the  French  is  what  we  know  in  English  as  a dragon-fly.  The  artist 


FftBM  A PAINTING  BY  J.  F.  8ALLAVOINE. 

THE  INTERRUPTED  SITTING. 

210 


\ 


"BOM  A PAINTING  BY  PAUL  T1LUER. 

AFTER  THE  BATH. 


211 


from  a painting  by  eibman-semenowsky. 


LISETTE. 

212 


FROM  A PAINTING  BY  GEORGES  LANDELLE. 

LIBELLULE. 


incarnates  this  beautiful  insect  as  a lovely  female  sprite,  which  skims  the  water  of 
a summer  stream  upon  its  transparent  wings.  Georges  Landelle  is  a son  and  pupil 
of  the  eminent  French  painter  Charles  Landelle. 

As  this  compilation  progresses,  and  its  scope  expands  in  natural  course,  the 
reader  will  gradually  arrive  at  the  position  of  being  able  to  compare  and  consider 
for  himself  the  varieties  of  men  and  styles  represented  by  the  pictures.  It  is  the 
purpose  of  this  work  to  discriminate  against  no  schools,  and  to  advocate  none,  but 
to  arrange  with  the  utmost  possible  accuracy  the  characteristic  qualities  and  pro- 
ductions of  the  art  of  the  whole  civilized  world.  Up  to  a certain  point  it  is  pos- 
sible for  a sympathetic  or  experienced  eye  to  distinguish  between  the  origins  of 
one  and  another  forms  and  methods  of  art,  but  this  is  constantly  becoming  more 
difficult,  for  the  reason  that  actual  schools,  which  half  a century  ago  were  sharply 
defined,  have  gradually  advanced  toward  merging  themselves  in  one*  and  that  the 
greatest  school  of  all.  Nothing  could  have  been  easier  in  the  past  than  to  select 
from  a number  Of  pictures  one  of  German  origin,  another  of  French,  others  of 
Italian,  Spanish,  and  the  like.  That  was  in  the  days  when  the  Academies  were 
supreme,  and  art  was  taught  like  writing,  from  a copying  book.  But  the  supremacy 
of  the  Academic  in  art  is  gone.  Nature  has  taken  its  place;  and  as  the  study  of 
nature  becomes  universal  the  pedagogical  distinctions  of  the  formulists  pass  away. 

Artists  study  in  the  Academies  still.  It  is  a necessary  preparation  for  their 
careers,  but  the  student  of  to-day  studies  at  the  schools  simply  to  learn  the  reading 
and  writing  of  his  art.  He  no  longer  becomes  a mere  imitator  of  the  master,  but 
he  absorbs  all  the  good  his  master  can  communicate  to  him,  and  as  his  innate 
powers  develop,  he  turns  to  real  life  for  his  models,  and  gives  to  what  he  observes 
and  represents  his  own  interpretation,  governed  by  his  personal  moods  and  tastes. 

213 


XIV. 


One  of  the  painters  of  whom  the  South  of  France  is  proud  is  Alphonse  Pellet. 
He  is  a native  of  Marseilles,  and  early  in  the  seventies  became  a pupil  in  Paris  of 
Bouguereau  and  of  Tony  Robert  Fleury.  “A  Lesson  in  Love”  is  a careful  and 
soundly  painted  study  of  a model  who  reclines  upon  a couch  and  watches  the  play 
of  two  pet  birds  in  a cage.  “ Bertha”  is  one  of  the  characteristic  and  expressive 
portrait  studies  which  Jan  Van  Beers  produces. so  skilfully.  Pierre  Dupuis,  who 
was  born  at  Orleans,  was  a pupil  of  Horace  Vernet  and  of  L.  Cogniet,  and  is  one 
of  several  brothers,  all  of  whom  are  artists  of  merit.  His  fantastic  conception 


PROM  A PAINTING  3T  G COURTOI8. 

THE  BURIAL  OF  ATALA. 


“ Invitation”  created  quite  a sensation  upon  its  exhibition,  being  in  a vein  of  biting 
satire  of  which  Paris  is  especially  fond.  The  allegory  is  direct  and  pointedly  ex- 
pressed. Physical  lust  and  folly  hold  forth  their  temptations  to  mankind,  while 

214 


FROM  A PAINTING  BY  JAN  VAN  BEERS. 

BERTHA. 


death,  in  the  shape  of  a shrouded  skeleton,  grinningly  directs  attention  to  their 
charms.  Ldon  Franpois  Comerre  was  born  at  Trdlon,  in  the  Nord,  in  1850.  He 
was  sent  to  Paris,  where  he  studied  art  under  Alexandre  Cabanel,  and  in  1875  he 
took  a medal  for  a picture  at  the  Salon,  and  captured  also  the  Prix  de  Rome. 
Comerre  spent  many  months  in  travel  and  study  in  Spain,  and  at  one  time  had  h?s 

• 215 


INVITATION. 


ROSES. 


217 


studio  in  the  Alhambra,  for  which  he  obtained  permission  from  the  Spanish  author 
ities.  While  a student  in  Cabanel’s  atelier,  he  met  a young  lady,  a native  of  Paris, 
but  of  English  parentage,  Miss  Jacqueline  Paton,  who  was  also  studying  under  the 
master.  They  were  married,  and  Mme.  Jacqueline  Comerre-Paton  has  since  ac- 


FROM  A PAINTING  BY  W.  KRAY. 

“WELCOME,  OLAF 1” 

quired  a popularity  with  the  art-loving  public  scarcely  inferior  to  that  of  her  hus- 
band. “The  Ass’  Skin”  is  one  of  her  notable  works. 

The  legend  of  King  Olaf,  the  patron  saint  of  Norway,  furnishes  William  Kray 
with  material  for  his  picture.  Henry  Bacon  is  an  American  artist,  born  at  Haver- 
hill, Mass.,  in  1839.  He  commenced  to  paint  at  home  with  some  success,  and  in 
1864  went  to  Paris,  where  he  has  since  resided.  There  he  became  a student  at  the 
Ecole  des  Beaux  Arts,  under  Cabanel,  until  in  1866  he  entered  as  a pupil  the 
studio  of  the  eminent  genre  painter,  Edouard  Frere,  at  Ecouen,  where  so  many 
American  and  English  painters  studied.  He  had  served  as  a volunteer  during  the 
Civil  War  in  this  country,  and  been  so  badly  disabled  by  wounds  that  his  health 
was  for  a long  time  precarious,  but  he  did  not  permit  it  to  interfere  with  his  pro- 
fessional progress,  and  from  the  period  when  he  established  a studio  for  himself 
in  Paris  he  found  popularity  abroad  as  well  as  among  American  collectors. 
“The  Pilot”  is  an  episode  of  the  voyage  of  a French  mail  steamer.  The  vessel 
has  arrived  on  the  coast  near  Havre,  and  lies-to  to  take  on  board  a pilot  who 
is  being  rowed  toward  her  from  the  pilot-boat,  while  a lady  passenger  watches 
the  distant  shore  which  marks  the  end  of  her  sea  journey.  The  artist  is  also 
well  known  as  a writer  on  topics  concerning  his  art,  and  has  published  many 
papers  in  our  periodicals.  J.  F.  Ballavoine,  in  “ Youth,”  presents  an  attractive 
type  of  feminine  beauty,  as  fresh  and  bright  as  the  field-daisies  which  are  the 

218 


THE  PILOT. 

219 


PROM  A PAINTING  BY  JACQUELINE  COMERRE-PATON. 


THE  ASS’  SKIN. 

220 


YOUTH. 


LOVE’S  WEAPONS. 

222 


FROM  A PAINTING  BY  W.  KRAY. 

THE  FRIENDS. 

flowers  of  maidenly  innocence.  Cupid,  in  the  picture  of  W.  A.  Bouguereau,  sits 
in  ambush  for  an  approaching  victim,  with  his  bow  in  his  hand  and  an  arrow 
ready  at  the  string.  Saint  John’s  Day  was  formerly  the  universal  midsummer 
holiday  of  Catholic  Europe,  and  even  to  the  present  times  is  celebrated  in  many 
parts.  One  of  the  beliefs  connected  with  it  was  that  youth  and  beauty  could  be 
preserved  by  a purification  of  the  body  on  this  day,  and  the  presentation  of  a trib- 
al 


ute  of  garlands  and  incense  to  the  memory  of  the  Baptist.  “The  Friends,”  by 
William  Kray,  is  a group  from  a picture  by  him  entitled  “ St.  John’s  Bath,”  which 
has  enjoyed  much  success.  The  lady  in  Edouard  Toudouze’s  picture  has  been 
picking  daisies  in  the  garden  of  a country-house  on  the  French  coast,  and  now 
sits  in  revery  looking  out  toward  the  sea. 

At  the  Salon  of  1879  Pierre  Puvis  de  Chavannes  was  represented  by  two 
pictures,  “The  Prodigal  Son”  and  “Young  Girls  at  the  Sea-Shore,”  both  of  which 
received  much  commendation.  The  artist,  who  ranks  to-day  as  one  of  the  fore- 


FROM  A PAINTING  BY  ED.  TOUDOUZE. 

THE  TIME  OF  DAISIES. 


most  of  living  painters,  is  a native  of  Lyons,  where  he  was  born  in  1824.  He  be- 
came a pupil  successively  of  Ary  Scheffer  and  Thomas  Couture,  two  of  the  strongest 
men  of  their  time,  but  in  no  manner  does  his  art  betray  its  foundation  by  any  imi- 
tation of  either  of  his  masters.  His  originality  declared  itself  while  he  was  yet  a 
student,  and  he  has  maintained  his  independence  through  all  his  years  of  incessant 
and  tireless  productiveness.  He  took  his  first  medal  in  1861,  and  the  great  Salon 
Medal  of  Honor  in  1882,  and  has  been  an  officer  of  the  Legion  of  Honor  since 
1877.  The  art  collections  in  this  country  are  rich  in  works  by  him,  and  his  latest 

224 


employment  has  been  the  painting  of  a vast  decorative  composition  for  the 
new  building  of  the  Boston  Public  Library,  for  which  he  received  the  sum  of 
$50,000. 

“ The  Birthday  Morn,”  by  Emily  Hart,  appeared  in  the  Salon  of  1892  under 


FROM  A PAINTING  BY  PUVIS  DE  CHAVANNES. 

YOUNG  GIRLS  AT  THE  SEA-SHORE. 

225 


FROM  A PAINTING  BY  MISS  EMILY 


THE  BIRTHDAY  MORN. 


the  title  of  “A  Holiday.”  The  artist  is  an  American  who  has  studied  art  and 
resides  in  Paris,  where  her  works  have  earned  her  a position  of  respect.  “ The 
Chilly  Model”  is  a picture  of  a class  which  the  artist  is  constantly  tempted  to 
paint.  The  color  and  texture  of  tapestries,  and  the  picturesque  surroundings  of 
his  studio,  are  a standing  challenge  to  his  powers  which  it  is  very  difficult  to  resist, 
and  there  are  few,  if  any,  painters  of  the  figure  who  have  not  at  one  time  or  an- 
other found  subjects  in  the  immediate  environment  of  their  easels.  The  dexterous 
use  to  which  the  artist  puts  these  objects  confers  upon  his  studio  an  atmosphere 
of  sumptousness  and  grandeur  more  suggestive  of  a royal  palace  than  of  the  work- 


FROM  A PAINTING  BY  ALPHONSE  DUMAS. 


THE  CHILLY  MODEL. 


ing-room  of  even  a prince  of  the  world  of  art.  Charles  Chaplin’s  “ Girlhood”  is 
one  of  the  sweetest  of  his  many  pictures  in  this  vein.  The  very  soul  of  purity  and 
innocence  breathes  under  his  sauve  and  tender  brush.  The  face  is  a type  of  girl- 
ish French  loveliness  distinctly  national,  while  the  handling  is  of  finest  freedom 
and  simplicity. 

“ Day  Dreams”  is  another  example  of  L.  A.  Hodebert,  and  like  the  one  pre- 
viously given  is  a strong  study  of  a shapely  model,  under  the  brilliant  and  concen- 
trated top-light  of  the  studio.  It  scarcely  justifies  so  sentimental  a title,  unless 
one  allows  a poetic  character  to  what  would  be  probably  the  meditations  of  a 
model  under  such  circumstances;  as  to  how  much  longer  she  shall  have  to  pose, 
before  she  can  put  her  fee  in  her  pocket  and  go  off  to  luncheon  or  dinner.  But  the 

227 


original  picture  is  one  which  has  brought  the  artist  much  credit  for  its  technical 
excellence  in  color,  the  firm  and  realistic  painting  of  the  figure,  and  the  extremely 
effective  management  of  the  light  and  shade.  The  reproduction  conveys  a good 


rROM  A PAINTING  BY  CHARLE8  CHAPLIN. 

GIRLHOOD. 

228 


idea  of  the  form  and  effect,  but  the  color  and  technique,  on  which  so  much  of  the 
success  of  a picture  depends,  must  be  imagined.  It  is  the  impossibility  of  even 
such  a highly  perfected  process  of  reproduction  as  is  employed  upon  the  embellish- 
ment of  this  work  to  render  more  than  the  material  substance,  which  makes  it  im- 
possible to  adequately  reproduce  some  pictures  at  all.  Where  drawing,  light  and 
shade,  and  color,  are  in  combination,  the  two  first  can  be  accurately  given,  and  the 
third  at  least  suggested.  But  there  is  a class  of  paintings  which,  in  the  phrase- 
ology of  art,  depend  entirely  upon  color  and  technique  for  their  effect.  Seen  as 


FROM  A PAINTING  BY  MME.  JACQUELINE  COMERRE-PATON. 

A SONG  OF  THE  WOODS. 


they  were  painted  they  are  often  very  fine  and  even  masterly.  But  reduced  to 
black  and  white  they  become  a mere  confusion  of  splotches,  masses  of  light  and 
shadow,  for  the  simple  reasons  that  there  is  no  actually  defined  form  in  them  to 
furnish  a foundation.  There  is,  or  was,  for  he  is  now  dead,  a figure  painter  in 
France  named  Monticelli,  whose  works  are  greatly  and  justly  admired  and  sought 
for  by  collectors.  Their  charm  is  entirely  that  of  color  and  tone.  As  far  as  form 
is  concerned  they  are  as  vague  and  indefinite  as  the  pictures  of  a dream.  Every 
possible  reproductive  method  has  been  essayed  to  render  them  intelligible  in  mono- 
chrome. Engraving,  etching,  photogravure,  lithography — no  resource  of  the  art 
has  been  left  untried,  but  they  remain  themselves,  and  can  be  judged  from  them- 
selves alone.  The  same  rule  applies  with  the  works  of  the  modern  impressionists, 
so  called.  There  is  one  of  these  painters  whose  pictures,  like  those  of  Monticelli, 
are  of  great  merit,  always  picturesque  in  composition  and  with  a great  charm  of 
color.  Hanging  on  a wall  they  seem  to  open  windows  in  it  by  which  one  looks 
out  on  actual  landscapes.  Yet  in  photographs  they  are  absolutely  unintelligible. 


229 


XV. 


A picture  thoroughly  characteristic  of  the  painter  in  thought  and  expression  is 
“The  Woman  or  the  Vase?”  of  Hendrik  Siemiradski,  which  was  first  shown  at  the 
Munich  Exposition  in  1879.  The  subject  is  of  a pointedly  satirical  nature,  and  is 
carried  out  with  the  utmost  skill.  The  scene  is  in  the  house  of  a Roman  patri- 
cian, who  is  a collector  of  works  of  art,  by  which  he  is  surrounded.  A young 
sculptor  has  brought  him  for  inspection  a decorated  vase,  which  the  old  connois- 
seur holds  upon  his  knee.  At  the  same  time  two  slave-dealers  present  to  him  a 
new  prize  which  they  have  secured,  in  the  person  of  a young  and  beautiful  woman. 
The  voluptuary  listens  to  their  praise  of  this  chattel,  uncertain  whether  he  shall 
purchase  the  gem  of  art  or  the  tempting  jewel  of  nature.  The  girl  shrinks  in 
shame  from  his  intent  and  gloating  gaze,  while  the  young  sculptor,  forgetting  even 
his  own  interest,  looks  with  pity  on  the  lovely  captive.  The  story  could  not  be 
more  plainly  told  in  words,  and  it  is  not  difficult  to  imagine  what  will  be  the  luxu- 


FROM  * PAINTING  BY  M.  8IEMIRA0SKI. 


THE  WOMAN  OR  THE  VASE? 

230 


FROM  A PAINTING  BY  E.  HUBERT. 

MAGDALEN. 


231 


FROM  A PAINTING  BY  V.  CORCOS. 

THE  TEA-ROSE. 

232 


THE  TOILET  OF  VENUS. 


rious  and  sensual  Ro- 
man’s choice  between 
the  two  propositions 
which  he  is  debating 
in  his  mind. 

Antoine  Auguste 
Ernest  Hebert  was 
born  in  1817  at  Gre- 
noble, and  at  the  age 
of  eighteen  arrived  in 
Paris,  with  the  pur- 
pose of  studying  law. 
While  pursuing  this 
course  he  devoted  such 
leisure  as  his  studies 
permitted  to  working 
as  an  amateur  student 
in  the  studios  of  Da- 
vid d'Angers  and  of 
Paul  Delaroche.  He 
had  carried  his  abili- 
ties to  such  a stage  of 
development  that  in 
four  years,  in  1839,  a 
picture  by  him,  repre- 
senting the  discovery 
of  Joseph’s  cup  in  Ben- 
jamin’s sack,  secured 
the  Prix  de  Rome  for 
him,  whereupon  he  re- 
nounced the  legal  pro- 
fession, cut  off  his 
studies  in  that  direc- 
tion, and  went  to  Italy, 
where  he  remained  ten 
years  in  Rome.  He 
was  one  of  the  first 
Frenchmen  to  devote 
himself  to  Italian  sub- 
jects of  a sentimental 
and  poetical  charac- 
ter, and  in  1850  one  of 


FROM  A PAINTING  BY  HECTOR  LE  ROUX. 

THE  VESTAL  TUCCIA. 


234 


16 


these,  “ La  Malaria, ’’  scored  a most  brilliant  hit.  The  picture  represented  a scene 
in  the  Pontine  Marshes,  with  peasants  flying  in  a boat  from  the  dreaded  and 
deadly  swamp  fever,  and  is  now  in  the  Luxembourg  collection.  Other  paintings 
by  Hebert  were  purchased  by  the  Government  for  museums  and  churches  at  vari- 
ous provincial  cities,  and  a considerable  number  crossed  the  Atlantic  to  become 


FROM  A PAINTING  BY  E.  RENARD. 

SLEEP. 


part  of  American  collections.  As  a portrait  painter,  especially  of  women  and  chil- 
dren of  the  upper  classes,  he  also  took  high  rank.  Hebert  took  the  whole  range 
of  Salon  medals,  became  a commander  of  the  Legion  of  Honor  and  a member  of 
the  Institute  in  1874,  was  Director  of  the  French  School  of  Art  in  Rome  from 
1866  to  1873,  and  again  from  1885  until  his  death.  The  “ Magdalen”  is  one  of 
his  pictures  painted  for  the  decoration  of  a French  church. 

Matteo  Yittoro  Corcos  is  an  Italian  artist,  born  at  Leghorn,  and  a pupil  of 
Morelli,  who  resides  in  Paris,  where  his  fanciful  and  graceful  pictures,  always 
spirited  in  treatment,  gay  in  color,  and  happy  in  their  choice  of  subject,  have  be- 
come excessively  popular.  “The  Tea  Rose”  is  a fine  example  of  his  elegant  and 
essentially  aristocratic  art. 

Paul  Jacques  Aime  Baudry  was  born  at  La  Roche  sur  Yon,  in  the  Vendee,  in 
1828.  His  father  was  a poor  workingman,  and  his  boyhood  was  one  of  the  most 
grinding  poverty.  Still  he  contrived  tc  learn  to  draw  from  the  charitable  instruc- 
tions of  a local  drawing-master,  and  his  astonishing  and  rapidly  developing  talent 
attracted  the  attention  of  the  Prefect  of  La  Vendee,  who  secured  him  admission  to 
the  Paris  art  school  and  supplied  him  with  means  to  live.  At  the  age  of  twenty- 
two  he  carried  off  the  Roman  prize  with  a most  brilliant  work,  and  soon  after  cast 
off  the  cold,  classical  style  which  he  had  acquired  under  his  master  Drolling  for  a 
combination  of  realistic  treatment  with  ideal  motives  which  was  of  the  first  distinc- 


tion  il  was  a style  especially  adapted  for  decorative  painting,  and  secured  for 
the  artist  many  important  commissions,  among  which  the  most  celebrated  are  the 
pictures  which  embellish  the  foyer  of  the  Paris  Opera  House.  He  painted  por- 
traits and  easel  pictures,  to  which  latter  class  “ The  Toilet  of  Venus”  belongs. 
The  goddess  arranges  her  hair  before  a bust  of  Pan  in  an  Arcadian  grove,  while 


(ROM  A PAINTING  BY  MME.  URANIE  COLIN-UBOUR. 


PENSIVE. 


BY  LEON  BON NAT. 


FROM  A PAINTING 


THE  BROKEN  JUG. 


mOM  A PAINTING  BY  a OUOUFE. 

PROFANE  MUSIC. 

238 


-uyu.  . 


Cupid,  who  has  borne  his  mother  company,  has  seized  her  mirror  and  is  admiring 
his  reflection  in  its  polished  surface.  Baudry  died  in  1886.  He  had  taken  all  the 
possible  medals,  had  been  a member  of  the  Institute  since  1870,  and  a commander 
of  the  Legion  of  Honor  since  1875. 

In  “ Andromeda”  Carolus  Duran  indulges  in  one  of  those  triumphs  of  color  in 
which  he  revels,  and  which  he  carries  to  such  a unique  pitch  of  splendor.  For  a 
perfect  picture  of  childish  repose  the“  Sleep”  of  Emile  Renard  would  be  difficult  to 
rival.  It  was  one  of  the  favorite  pictures  at  the  Salon  some  years  ago,  and  secured 
for  the  painter  a medal  which  placed  him  hors  concours.  The  artist  is  a native  of 
Sevres,  and  began  as  a painter  on  porcelain  at  the  famous  Government  factories 
there,  where  his  father  was  one  of  the  chief  designers.  He  was  quick,  clever,  and 
possessed  a graceful  invention  in  design,  so  he  earned  good  wages,  out  of  which 
he  was  able  to  economize  till  he  had  a fund  sufficient  to  warrant  his  going  to  Paris. 
There  he  studied  under  Cabanel  and  Caesar  de  Cock,  among  the  first  of  whose 
pupils  he  was  ranked. 

Leon  Joseph  Florentin  Bonnat,  one  of  the  supreme  figures  among  the  great 
painters  of  modern  France,  was  born  at  Bayonne  in  1833.  The  proximity  of  his 
native  city  to  Spain  influenced  the  commencement  of  his  career  as  an  artist,  by 


FROM  A PAINTING  BY  EDOUARD  BISSON. 

BY  THE  SEA-SHORE. 

sending  him  to  Madrid  as  a pupil  of  Frederic  Madrazo,  and  a student  of  the  royal 
collection  of  old  Spanish  masters.  His  earlier  works  were  largely  influenced  by 
those  of  Velasquez,  Ribera,  and  Murillo.  From  Spain  he  went  to  Paris,  where 


he  entered  the  studio  of  Leon  Cogniet,  and  in  1857,  winning  the  second  1'rV  tie 
Rome,  was  enabled  to  travel  to  Italy.  His  pictures  of  Italian  life  first  made  him 
widely  known,  and  many  of  the  best,  among  them  “The  Broken  Jug,”  came  to  the 


FROM  A PAINTING  BY  CHARLES  VOILLEMOT. 

YOUNG  GIRL  WITH  A DOVE. 


United  States.  His  strength  is  in  his  deep,  rich,  and  harmonious  color,  broad  and 
powerful  handling,  command  of  character,  and  form  and  solidity  of  execution.  He 
has  taken  all  the  medals,  including  the  Grand  Medal  of  Honor,  which  fell  to  him 
in  18&9,  nas  been  a Commander  of  the  Legion  of  Honor  since  1882,  and  is  a mem- 

340 


->ei  of  the  Institute.  Many  American  painters  of  the  first  rank  have  been  student 
under  him. 

Mme.  Uranie  Colin-Libour,  the  painter  of  “Pensive,”  is  of  Parisian  birth  and 


MADEMOISELLE  ZUCCHI. 
241 


was  a pupil  of  P.  Rude,  Charles  Louis  Muller,  and  Franpois  Bouvin.  Her  picture 
is  of  an  Alsatian  woman,  in  the  sober  and  picturesque  country  costume.  “After 
the  Bath”  is  a solid  and  lifelike  study  by  the  Strasburg  artist,  Louis  Frederic 
Schutzenberger ; and  “By  the  Sea-Shore”  presents  an  admirable  out-of-door  effect 
by  Edouard  Bisson.  Andre  Charles  Voillemot  was  born  in  Paris  in  1822  and  was 


FROM  A PAINTING  BY  PAUL  TILLIER. 

THE  SIESTA  AT  THE  BATH. 


a pupil  of  Drolling.  He  is  best  known  as  a painter  of  portraits  and  of  ideal  sub, 
jects  and  female  heads.  He  was  first  medalled  in  1870,  in  which  year  he  was  also 
received  into  the  Legion  of  Honor. 

The  portraits  of  Georges  Jules  Victor  Clairin  are  among  the  glories  of  modern 
art.  They  are  distinguished  by  the  most  vital  spirit,  powerful  color,  amazing  free-, 
dom  of  brushwork  and  brilliancy  of  effect.  Two  of  the  most  famous  are  his  full 
lengths  of  Sarah  Bernhardt,  that  of  Mme.  Krauss  of  the  Grand  Opera,  and  that  of 
Mile.  Zucchi,  the  premiere  danseuse  of  the  same  company.  Clairin  was  born  in 
Paris  in  1843,  and  studied  at  the  Ecole  des  Beaux  Arts  and  under  Picot  and  Pils. 
He  has  travelled  extensively  in  Italy,  Spain,  and  North  Africa,  largely  in  company 
with  Henri  Regnault,  who  was  his  intimate  friend.  Like  Regnault  he  fought  with 
the  artists’  battalion  in  the  defence  of  Paris  against  the  Germans,  and  it  was  by 
his  side  that  his  more  than  brother  fell  dead  of  a Bavarian  bullet  in  the  bloody 
mire  of  Buzenval.  It  is  said  that  Clairin  actually  carried  Regnault’s  body  off  the 
field,  as  indifferent  to  the  shower  of  screaming  bullets  from  the  needle-guns  of  the 
enemy  as  if  they  had  been  hailstones.  The  gallant  character  of  the  man  reveals 
itself  in  his  appearance.  Bold,  original,  independent ; an  incessant  student  and 
seeker  after  new  triumphs  of  technique;  quick-sighted,  keen-witted,  disdainful  of 
schools,  cliques,  or  fads  in  art,  his  future  place  in  the  roll  of  honor  of  art  is  in  the 

242 


FROM  A PAINTING  BY  W.  A.  BOUGUEREAu. 

BATHING  GIRL. 

243 


FROM  A PAINTING  BY  PELEZ  DE  CORDOVA. 

AN  INTERESTED  CRITIC. 


first  rank.  Among  his  great  decorative  works,  of  which  he  has  executed  many, 
perhaps  the  greatest  are  his  four  panels  on  the  grand  staircase  'o'f'the  Paris  Opera 
House,  and  the  ceiling  of  the  theatre  at  Monte  Carlo.  A picture  of  his  which 
created  a veritable  sensation  in  this  country,  where  it  is  now  owned, «*was  “ Frou 

244 


Frou,”  a perfectly  dazzling  embodiment  of  the  poor,  frivolous  heroine  of  that  once 
famous  play.  Clairin  took  his  first  medal  in  1882. 

“ The  Siesta  at  the  Bath”  is  another  of  Paul  Tillier’s  strongly  decorative  studies, 
rich  in  color  and  of  a dazzling  brilliancy  of  effect.  The  “ Bathing  Girl”  is  a com- 
paratively recent  work  of  W.  A.  Bouguereau,  and  one  of  the  most  delicate  and 
masterly  character.  It  is  now  part  of  a famous  private  collection  in  the  United 
States.  Fernando  Pelez,  called  Pelez  de  Cordova  to  distinguish  him  from  another 
artist  of  the  same  name,  his  son,  who  also  resides  in  Paris,  was  born  in  that  city, 
of  Spanish  parentage.  He  became  a pupil  of  Gerome,  but  devoted  himself  chiefly 
to  genre  works  of  an  elegant  character,  upon  familiar  subjects  of  Parisian  life. 
The  “ Interested  Critic”  of  his  picture  is  the  model  who  has  been  posing  for  the 
artist,  and  who,  in  one  of  her  periods  of  rest,  views  the  progress  of  his  work  and 
passes  her  opinion  on  it.  The  artist  himself  is  a portrait  of  the  painter’s  son. 


FROM  A PAINTING  BY  C.  SCHWENINGER. 

INGENUOUSNESS  AND  EXPERIENCE. 

“Ingenuousness  and  Experience”  is  a speaking  allegory  by  Carl  Schweninger:  a 
thorough  woman  of  the  world,  mature  in  beauty  and  the  wisdom  of  her  kind, 
counselling  youth  and  innocence,  for  whom  all  the  world  is  yet  a sealed  book,  while 
they  lounge  in  the  private  bath  of  a Roman  villa.  The  original  picture  is  an 
enormous  canvas,  covering  one  entire  wall  of  the  summer  house  of  an  Austrian 
nobleman,  to  whose  order  it  was  painted.  It  ranks  among  the  finest  productions 
of  modern  German  art  in  color  and  technique,  and  is  held  to  be  the  artist’s 
master-piece. 


245 


XVI. 


In  the  preceding  section  of  this  work  we  gave  a detail  from  William  Kray’s 
painting  of  “ St.  John’s  Bath,”  which  is  now  presented  in  its  entirety.  Maidens 
and  matrons,  representing  various  types  of  beauty,  are  gathered  beside  the  waters 


FROM  A PAINTING  BY  W.  KRAY. 

ST.  JOHN’S  BATH. 

of  a sylvan  lake.  They  bring  offerings  of  flowers,  the  natural  jewels  of  mid- 
summer, to  cast  in  tribute  to  the  miracle-working  pool.  The  world  is  gay  with 
sunshine,  and  their  beauty  lights  the  forest  as  if  it  carried  with  it  a reflection  of 
the  splendor  of  the  glorious  luminary.  The  work  belongs  among  the  most  success- 
ful of  the  many  which  the  painter  has  produced.  It  is  part  of  the  decoration  of  the 
mansion  of  a millionaire  banker  in  Berlin. 

William  Heinrich,  commonly  known  as  Henri  Schlesinger,  is  a German  by 
natwty  born  at  Frankfort-on-Main  in  1814,  but  a naturalized  citizen  of  France. 
He  studied  at  the  Academy  of  Vienna,  and  after  thoroughly  grounding  himself  as 
a student,  went  to  Paris  to  continue  his  studies.  There  he  has  since  resided  and 
studied.  His  pioductions  are  mainly  in  the  line  of  historical  genre  and  portraits, 

246 


FROM  A PAINTING  BY  H.  8CHLESINGER. 

A MODERN  VENUS- 

247 


and  in  the  latter  field  his  fascinating  female  creations,  pregnant  with  life  and 
coauetry,  ana  of  the  most  brilliant  technique,  are  especially  famous.  He  was  a 
favorite  painter  with  the  Emperor  Napoleon  III.,  who  patronized  him  liberally,  and 
his  “ Modern  Venus”  is  asserted  to  be  a portrait  of  an  English  woman  in  whom  the 
Emperor  was  interested.  The  idea  of  the  picture  is  in  a manner  borrowed  from 
Rubens’  universally  known  portrait  of  his  wife,  but  the  execution  is  thoroughly 
the  painter’s  own.  Schlesinger  commenced  to  take  Salon  medals  in  1840,  and  has 
been  a member  of  the  Legion  of  Honor  since  1866. 

Louis  Emile  Adan  was  born  in  Paris  in  1839.  He  was  a leading  pupil  of  Picot 
and  Cabanel,  and  early  revealed  his  powers  by  the  production  of  pictures  replete 
with  character  and  spirit  and  of  a most  attractive  and  harmonious  color.  He 
painted  in  water-colors  as  brilliantly  as  in  oils,  and  was  one  of  the  founders  of  the 
French  Society  of  Aquarellists.  He  took  his  first  medal  at  the  Salon  in  1875,  and 
has  since  been  repeatedly  honored.  Of  late  years  he  has  devoted  much  attention  to 
subjects  of  country  life,  sometimes  among  the  great  people  of  the  chateaus,  and  at 


ACROSS  THE  FIELDS. 

others  among  the  peasantry  in  the  fields,  painting  his  pictures  in  the  open  air  and 
securing  striking  effects  of  atmosphere  and  light.  In  “Across  the  Fields”  a peas- 
ant girl  who  has  been  gleaning  in  a wheatfield  turns  her  steps  homeward  as  the  sun 
is  setting.  There  is  the  noble  dignity  of  accomplished  labor  in  the  pose  and  action 

248 


AUTUMN  FLOWERS. 


of  her  figure,  and  it  is  not  to  be  wondered  at  that  the  work  secured  a medal  for  the 
artist  when  it  was  exhibited. 

“The  Hand  Mirror,”  by  Jules  Scalbert,  is  one  of  his  favorite  subjects  of  the  life 
of  that  half-world  which,  in  Paris,  is  considered  quite  as  much  a matter  of  fact  as 
that  there  should  be  any  world  at  all.  Alexandre  Jacques  Chantron  is  a native  of 
Nantes  and  a pupil  of  Picot,  who  after  studying  in  Paris  returned  to  his  native  city 

249 


A SAINTLY  SPINNER. 

250 


FROM  A PAINTING  BY  JOSEPH  COOMANS. 


THE  FAN-BEAPER. 


and  set  up  his  studio.  He  enjoys  high  local  esteem  as  an  artist,  and  in  conse- 
quence his  pictures  do  not  travel  in  any  considerable  number  far  beyond  the 
boundaries  of  his  residence.  This  may  account  for  the  fact  that,  although  he  is  a 
sound  and  able  painter,  he  has  received  but  little  of  that  official  recognition  in  Paris 
for  which  French  artists  yearn.  “ The  Toilette  of  the  Manikin”  is  one  of  his  char- 
acteristic works.  It  should  be  understood  that  while  some  painters  are  very  exact- 
ing and  severe  with  their  models,  others,  and  these  in  the  majority,  permit  them 
many  liberties.  In  this  case  the  model  is  taking  advantage  of  her  privilege.  She 
has  a rest  from  posing,  and  whiles  away  the  idle  time  by  dressing  up  her  employer’s 


FROM  A PAINTING  BY  T.  LOBRICHON. 

A TF.MPEST  IN  A WASH-BOWL. 

lay  figure  in  her  own  costume,  which  she  has  laid  aside  for  professional  purposes. 
The  “ Fan  Bearer”  was  an  important  servitor  in  the  luxurious  life  of  Greek  and 
Roman  times.  In  the  house,  the  office  of  cooling  the  mistress  and  fanning  away 
troublesome  insects  devolved  upon  a favorite  slave  girl,  who  was,  in  a way,  the 
confidante  of  her  owner  and  enjoyed  many  enviable  privileges.  When  the  mistress 
went  abroad,  to  promenade  or  ride,  male  slaves  were  employed  to  perform  the  duty. 
Joseph  Cooman’s  “Fan  Bearer”  is  a Greek  girl,  many  of  whom  exited  as  slaves  at 
Pompeii,  and  that  she  has  no  reason  to  resent  her  captivity  is  shown  by  her  golden 


FROM  A PAINTING  BY  J.  J.  HENNER. 

LOLA. 

ornaments,  her  placid  and  contented  expression,  and  the  authoritative  manner  in 
which  she  carries  her  fan  of  peacock  feathers  set  with  jewels. 

The  influence  of  his  master,  Gerome,  reveals  itself  in  “ The  Slave  Market  at 
Cairo,”  by  Maxime  Dastugue.  The  slave-dealers  have  placed  a new  consignment 
of  captives  on  sale,  and  the  unfortunates  are  set  to  displaying  their  best  points  to 

254 


possible  purchasers.  Some  accept  the  matter  with  the  calmness  of  complete  aban- 
don, or  the  philosophic  placidity  of  resignation  to  their  fate.  Others  betray  no 
special  emotion  except  curiosity  as  to  who  will  become  their  owner,  and  others  still 
resign  themselves  to  shame  and  despair.  In  the  foreground  an  aged  slave-dealer 
sits  smoking  his  pipe  and  critically  surveying  his  stock,  and  his  prize  slave,  a pearl 


FROM  A PAINTING  BY  PAUL  MERWART. 

THE  BACCHANTE. 

destined  for  some  opulent  harem,  stands  near  him,  partially  concealed  behind  a 
column,  awaiting  the  moment  when  the  proper  customer  arrives.  In  the  courtyard, 
a dealer  ushers  in  a stately  old  Pacha,  whose  attention  he  calls  to  the  merits  of  the 
wares  exposed  for  sale,  while  other  dealers  and  customers  chaffer  and  gossip  in  the 
background. 

Franpois  Lafon  is  the  son  of  a French  artist  of  great  merit,  Jacques  Emile 
Lafon,  who  was  born  at  Perigueux,  and  studied  under  Gros  and  Paul  Delaroche. 
The  elder  Lafon  became  a member  of  the  Legion  of  Honor  in  1859.  His  son  was 
born  in  Paris,  and,  after  being  thoroughly  grounded  in  art  by  his  father,  was  sent 
by  him  to  the  studio  of  Cabanel  to  complete  his  education.  Cabanel  was  an  old 
friend  of  the  elder  Lafon  and  consequently  took  particular  interest  in  the  younger, 
whose  rapid  progress  justified  the  master’s  confidence  in  him.  Young  Lafon’s 
“ Eve”  appeared  in  the  Salon  of  1882  and  was  a distinct  success.  It  represents  the 
common  mother  of  humanity  in  her  fall,  lamenting  her  expulsion  from  Eden,  and 
is  a strong  and  valuable  work.  The  painting  is  now  in  one  of  the  provincial  art 

255 


museums  ot  France.  The 
“Lola”  of  Jean  Jacques 
Henner  is  one  of  those 
strong  and  seductive  female 
heads  of  which  he  has 
painted  so  many  and  which 
enjoy  a universal  and  never- 
waning  popularity.  They 
are  characterized  by  the 
purest  transparency  of  com- 
plexion, intensity  of  expres- 
sion, and  resonant  force  of 
color.  The  artist  calls  them 
his  love-birds,  because  he 
paints  them  for  pure  love 
of  the  work,  but  they  have 
wings  which  carry  them  all 
over  the  world  and  bring  a 
golden  harvest  to  their  cre- 
ator. “ Lola”  is  the  prop- 
erty of  an  American  col- 
lector, in  whose  gallery  it  is 
one  of  the  choicest  gems. 

Early  in  the  seventies, 
there  made  his  appearance 
in  Paris  a young  Russian 
named  Paul  Merwart.  He 
settled  in  the  Latin  Quarter, 
the  chosen  abiding-place  of 
Parisian  Bohemia,  and  it 
presently  appeared  that  he 
was  an  artist.  He  was  re- 
puted to  have  fled  from 
Russia  in  order  to  avoid  the 
penalty  for  implication  in 
a revolutionary  conspiracy, 
making  the  voluntary  jour- 
ney to  France  in  order  to 
avoid  an  involuntary  one  to 
Siberia.  However  this  may 
have  been,  he  kept  his  own 
counsel.  He  was  poor,  but 


FROM  A PAINTING  BY  TONY  ROBERT-FLEURY. 

ARCHITECTURE. 


master.  His  “ Bacchante”  belongs  to  this  class.  She  is  one  of  the  nymphs 
devoted  to  the  worship  of  Bacchus,  and  reclines  on  the  seashore,  in  the  balmy 
atmosphere  of  early  autumn,  couched  on  her  leopard  skin  and  with  her  staff  of 
office  under  her,  toying  with  bunches  of  grapes,  luscious  and  ripe  as  her  own  beauty. 
Allusion  has  already  been  made  to  the  “ Truth”  of  Jules  Lefebvre.  It  is  one  of  the 
pictures  upon  which  his  reputation  was  founded,  and  won  him  the  cross  of  the 
Legion  of  Honor  in  1870.  The  “ Atala”  of  Gustave  Courtois  is  a famous  picture. 
It  illustrates  the  pathetic  passage  in  Chateaubriand’s  immortal  romance  which  de- 
scribes the  interment  of  Rene  by  her  Indian  lover,  with  the  aid  of  the  missionary 
monk.  The  “April”  of  Charles  Voillemot  is  a gracious  sprite,  embowered  in 
flowering  fruit-trees,  and  veiled  as  in  a gauze  mantle  by  the  tender  mists  of  bud- 

257 


was  believed  to  be  in  receipt  of  aid  in  periods  of  necessity  from  wealthy  Nihilist 
exiles  who  resided  in  Paris.  He  was  born,  it  came  out,  at  Marianowka,  and  had 
studied  art  at  the  St.  Petersburg  Academy.  In  Paris  he  entered  the  studio  of 
Henri  Lehman,  the  great  decorative  painter,  and  supported  himself  by  making 
designs  for  the  publishers,  to  whose  issues  of  the  press,  in  fact,  he  still  con- 
tributes. His  early  pictures  were  character  studies  of  Russian  life,  but  in  time 
he  fell  into  a profitable  line  of  decorative  art,  influenced  thereto,  no  doubt,  by  his 


FROM  A PAINTING  BY  GUSTAVE  COURTOIS. 

ATALA. 


FROM  A PAINTING  BY  L.  E.  FOURNIEH 

THE  RETURN  FROM  THE  BALL. 

258 


FROM  A PAINTING  BY  W.  A.  BOUGUERfcAU. 

THE  WET  CUPID. 

259 


ding  spring.  “ The  Wet  Cupid”  is  a recent  and  quaint  conceit  of  W.  A.  Bougue- 
reau.  The  little  scion  of  Venus  is  in  it  no  more  exempt  from  trouble  than  are  his 
victims.  He  has  been  caught  in  a shower,  and  seeks  protection,  shivering  with 
cold,  under  a sheltering  tree.  The  original  picture  is  in  an  American  gallery. 


FROM  A 


riNO  e> 


THE  VEXATIONS  OF  LOVE. 

260 


FROM  A PAINTING  BY  F.  DE  CHAMBORD. 

IN  MIDSUMMER. 

The  “ Vexations  of  Love”  in  Harry  Finney’s  picture  are  merely  those  of  a lady 
who  is  disappointed  in  a rendezvous  with  her  lover.  The  artist  is  of  English  birth 
and  a pupil  of  the  Munich  Academy.  Fernand  de  Chambord  is  a Parisian  by  birth, 
and  a pupil  of  Hodin,  who  has  done  much  good  work  in  ideal  and  decorative  com- 
positions. “ In  Midsummer”  was  his  Salon  picture  for  1881.  It  is  a well  com- 
posed and  painted  studio  composition,  quite  adequate  in  the  expression  of  its  title. 
One  of  those  ladies  who  are  better  known  to  the  theatres  and  cafes  of  Paris  than 
to  its  drawing-rooms  has  been  refreshing  herself  at  her  bath  from  the  oppressive 
heat  of  a suffocating  afternoon,  and  revels  in  the  luxurious  coolness  of  the 
reaction,  stimulated  by  the  light  breeze  of  her  fan.  The  boudoir  is  darkened, 
to  prevent  the  intrusion  of  the  sun,  while  its  open  lattices  permit  free  passage  to 
such  air  as  may  be  stirring.  The  world  without  swelters  and  gasps  in  the  torrid 
air.  The  asphalt  of  the  boulevard  radiates  heat  like  a furnace,  and  the  loungers 
at  the  little  tables  in  front  of  the  restaurants  doze  over  their  beer  or  absinthe  or 
lukewarm  water  with  a lump  of  sugar  melting  at  the  bottom  of  the  tumbler.  But 
here,  indoors,  things  are  as  comfortable  as  any  device  of  human  ingenuity  can 
make  them.  It  is  not  much  of  a story  for  a picture  to  tell,  to  be  sure,  but  such 
as  it  is  the  story  is  well  told. 


XVII. 


Edouard  Bernard  Debat-Ponsan,  who  is  represented  by  an  episode  of  a harem 
bath  in  “The  Massage,”  was  born  at  Toulouse.  He  studied  first  at  the  local  acad- 
emy and  then  became  a pupil  in  Paris  of  Alexandre  Cabanel,  under  whom  he 
developed  into  a strong  genre  and  portrait  painter.  In  1872  he  won  the  second 
Prix  de  Rome  at  the  Ecole  des  Beaux  Arts,  in  1874  captured  his  first  Salon  medal, 
and  in  1881  entered  the  Legion  of  Honor.  “The  Massage  in  the  Harem”  was  his 
Salon  picture  for  1883,  and  was  justly  accounted  one  of  the  strongest  paintings  of 
the  figure  in  the  exhibition.  The  “ Innocence”  of  Emmanuel  Benner  represented 
this  artist  in  the  Salon  of  the  following  year,  and  won  consideration  as  a capital  and 
representative  work.  “ A Primrose”  is  another  of  the  beautiful  conceptions  of 
Raphael  Collin,  of  whom  an  example  in  a somewhat  different  vein  has  already 
been  given.  Jean  Baptiste  Hippolyte  de  Vergeses  is  one  of  the  strongest  pupils  of 
that  very  strong  master,  Carolus-Duran.  He  comes  of  an  old  family,  and  was 
born  upon  the  ancestral  estates  at  Issoire,  in  the  department  of  Puy-de-Dome. 
What  the  decayed  fortunes  of  his  house  made  him  lack  of  means,  he  has  amply 
replaced  by  the  proceeds  of  his  art,  of  which  “The  Awakening”  can  testify  to  its 


EROM  A PAINTING  BY  6.  DEBAT-PONSAN. 


THE  MASSAGE  IN  THE  HAREM. 

262 


sound  and  sterling  quality.  Its  full  title,  “The  Awakening  oi  a Parisiennc,' 
completely  explains  its  character  and  shows  how  close  it  is  to  nature. 

The  “Julia  Felix”  of  Joseph  Coomans  is  a page  from  Roman  history.  It  rep- 
resents the  only  child  of  the  Emperor  Augustus,  in  all  her  loveliness  and  pride, 
the  wife  in  succession  of  Marcellus,  Agrippus,  and  Tiberius,  before  her  far  from 


FROM  A PAINTING  BY  E.  BENNER. 


INNOCENCE. 


irreproachable  life  led  to  her  banishment  and  death  in  miserable  exile.  She  makes 
her  progress,  resplendent  in  her  luxurious  loveliness,  from  some  palace  or  temple. 
She  reclines  in  a litter,  which  is  borne  upon  the  shoulders  of  Ethiopian  slaves. 
Her  arms  and  neck  are  loaded  with  jewels,  and  her  breasts  are  covered,  as  was  the 
custom  of  the  time,  with  golden  shells  or  masks  moulded  to  fit  her  form.  The 
populace  applaud  her  and  extol  her  beauty  as  she  makes  her  stately  progress 
through  their  ranks,  and  beside  the  litter  an  impressionable  youth  pours  forth  his 
adoration,  to  which  she  listens  with  calm  disdain.  It  is  another  breed  of  princess 
which  Emile  Munier  shows  us  in  “The  Billet-Doux” — a comparatively  modern 
princess  of  the  bedchamber,  an  Abigail  who  has  chanced  upon  some  tender  missive 
which  has  been  sent  to  her  mistress,  and  is  adding  another  to  that  store  of  secrets 
which  render  men  and  women  no  heroes  to  their  valets  and  their  maids.  “ After 
the  Bath”  is  an  unusually  fine  example  of  the  German  artist  Georg  Papperitz,  a 
picture  in  his  strongest  manner  of  the  interpretation  of  the  figure.  “ Sleep”  was 

263 


the  Salon  picture  of  Charles  Chaplin  in  1886.  It  was  painted  for  the  ceiling  of  a 
private  mansion  in  Paris,  and  was  one  of  the  artist’s  most  distinguished  works.  Its 
appropriateness  for  its  use  may  be  comprehended  from  the  fact  that  the  ceiling 
which  it  decorates  is  that  of  one  of  the  greatest  and  most  fashionable  ladies  of 


FROM  A PAINTING  BY  R.  COLLIN. 


A PRIMROSE. 

264 


FROM  A PAINTING  BY  J.  B.  H.  DE  VEBGESES. 

THE  AWAKENING. 


Parisian  society.  Oscar  Begas  was  one  of  the  acknowledged  masters  of  the  Berlin 
school  of  painting.  He  was  born  in  Berlin  in  1828.  His  father  was  an  artist  of 
merit  and  he  studied  under  him  and  at  the  Berlin  Academy  of  Fine  Arts.  Thence 
he  went  to  Dresden,  where  he  won  the  Academy  prize  which  provided  him  with  a 
stipend  upon  which  to  study  in  Italy.  From  1850  until  1854  he  remained  in  Rome, 
Tainting  a few  small  genre  pictures  and  a number  of  Scriptural  compositions  for 
Berlin  churches.  When  he  returned  to  his  native  city  ne  took  up  portrait-painting 

265 


with  much  success,  painted  also  historical  pictures,  and  even  landscapes,  hunting 
scenes,  and  the  like.  His  “ Eve”  was  painted  in  1881,  two  years  before  his  death. 
Jules  Salles,  a native  of  the  city  of  Nismes,  was  a pupil  of  Paul  Delaroche.  His 
“in  the  Glaciers”  is  a good  example  of  his  robust  and  vigorous  art.  Another 
admirable  example  of  the  talent  of  Mile.  Marguerite  Arosa  is  given  in  “ The  Con- 
servatory Bath,”  which  luxury  is  much  indulged  in  abroad  by  people  whose  wealth 
enables  them  to  support  conservatories.  The  “ Mignon”  of  Jules  Lefebvre  is  one 
of  his  quite  numerous  pictures  based  on  Goethe’s  philosophical  romance,  ‘‘Wilhelm 
Meister.  ” The  original  painting  is  now  in  one  of  the  greatest  private  art  collec- 
tions of  America. 

Victor  Giraud,  the  painter  of  “The  Slave  Merchant,”  was  the  son  of  the  emi- 
nent French  artist,  Pierre  Fran£ois  Eugene  Giraud,  who  was  born  in  Paris  in  1806, 
and  was  a pupil  of  Richomme,  Hersent,  and  the  Ecole  des  Beaux  Arts.  The  elder 
Giraud  began  as  an  engraver,  and  died  in  1861  an  officer  of  the  Legion  of  Honor. 


FROM  A PAINTING  BY  J.  COOMANS. 


JULIA  FELIX. 


His  son  was  born  in  Paris,  in  1840,  and  studied  under  his  father,  and  afterward 
under  Picot.  One  of  his  first  exhibits  at  the  Salon  was  “The  Slave  Merchant,  ’and 
it  was  purchased  by  the  French  Government  for  the  Luxembourg  collection.  It 
was  shown  in  the  year  1867.  The  artist,  after  an  extremely  successful  career,  died 
in  Paris  in  1871.  Polaris,  which  supplies  Luis  Falero  with  a subject  for  “ The 


Pole-Star,”  is  in  astronomy  the  nearest  conspicuous  star  to  the  North  Pole.  The 
South  Pole  has  no  special  star.  The  artist  makes  his  constellation  take  the  shape 
of  a lovely  maiden,  chaste  and  cold,  and  pure  as  the  icy  pinnacle  on  which  she  is 
poised  against  the  purple  Arctic  sky  scintillating  with  minor  stars. 

Auguste  Hagborg  was  born  at  Gothenburg,  Sweden,  and  is  a pupil  of  the 
Academy  of  Fine  Arts  at  Stockholm.  After  carrying  his  studies  there  as  far  as  the 
advantages  of  the  Academy  permitted,  he  went  to  Paris,  where  he  completed  his 

267 


THE  BILLET-DOUX. 


FROM  A PAINTINO  B*  w.  A.  BOUQUEREAU. 

THE  LITTLE  SHEPHERDESS. 

268 


“La  Tosca”  is  an  outgrowth.  The  character  is  the  heroine  of  the  strong  play  by 
Victorien  Sardou,  but  it  is,  in  effect,  the  portrait  of  a great  lady  who  assumed  the 
costume  of  the  part  for  a fancy  dress  party,  and  found  that  it  became  her  so  well 
that  she  had  herself  painted  in  character. 

The  Salon  of  1893  revealed  Pierre  Le  Quesne’s  “Daughters  of  Menesthe”  to 
the  public.  Mene  was  the  moon  of  the  ancient  Greeks,  the  sister  of  the  sun,  the 
queen  and  ruler  of  the  tides,  and  her  daughters  were  the  months  of  the  calendar. 
The  picture  received  high  praise  from  the  French  critics,  for  its  conception  of  the 
subject,  its  composition,  spirit,  color,  and  technical  execution,  and  was  purchased 
by  a millionaire  banker  for  the  decoration  of  his  dining-room,  in  which  he  has  for 
years  kept  up  the  practice  of  giving  a banquet  on  the  first  day  of  each  month  to 
his  personal  friends.  The  work  could  certainly  not  be  more  appropriately  applied. 


cadetship  in  art  in  the  studio  of  Palmaroli.  An  artist  of  the  utmost  sincerity  and 
of  sterling  merit,  he  also  commanded  great  popularity  in  his  social  relations.  He 
is  a man  of  majestic  stature,  with  a strong  and  handsome  head,  and  peculiarly 
clear  and  penetrating  blue  eyes.  His  first  appearances  at  the  Salon  were  made 
with  pictures  representing  episodes  of  the  rude  and  laborious  lives  of  the  fishermen 
and  peasantry,  and  it  was  one  of  these  which  won  him  his  first  medal  in  1879. 
This  work,  “ Spring  Tide  in  La  Manche,  ” was  purchased  by  the  Government  for  the 
Luxembourg  gallery.  Almost  from  the  start  Hagborg  became  an  extremely  pop- 
ular painter  with  American  collectors,  and  while  one  half  of  his  productions  found 
their  way  into  important  European  collections,  the  other  crossed  the  ocean  to  the 
United  States.  Some  years  ago  he  commenced  to  devote  less  attention  to  his 
genre  subjects  and  more  to  portraiture  and  character  studies  of  high  life,  of  which 


FROM  A PAINTING  Br  CHARLES  CHAPLIN. 

SLEEP. 


IN  THE  GLACIERS. 

271 


f ROM  A PAINTING  BY  P.  WAGNER. 


ON  THE  HEATH 


In  the  study  of  any  topic  relating  to  art,  the  opportunity  to  compare  the 
works  of  different  artists,  and  the  ability  to  make  a comparison,  are  essential  to  a 
fair  and  comprehensive  conclusion  on  the  subject.  In  this  section  of  “ Modern 
Figure  Painting”  an  excellent  opportunity  to  this  end  is  afforded.  The  sixteen 
artists  who  are  here  represented  by  their  works  not  only  represent  sixteen  distinct 
individualities  but  also  sixteen  different  impulses  and  influences  which  are  reflected 
in  their  productions.  In  Jules  Salles  we  have  a graduate  of  the  semi-classical 
school  of  Delaroche,  a school  which  combined,  through  the  force  of  the  master’s 

273 


FROM  A PAINTING  BY  JULES  LEFEBVRE. 

MIGNON. 


genius,  the  cold  classicism  of  the  past  with  the  growing  naturalism  of  the  present. 
To  the  entirely  modern  and  up-to-date  period  belong  the  examples  of  De  Vergese 
and  Mile.  Arosa.  In  Jules  Lefebvre  breathes  the  spirit  of  the  romantic  period, 
and  in  Emmanuel  Benner  that  of  the  Italian  masters  over  whom  Titian  reigned 
supreme.  The  voluptuous,  decorative  art  which  characterized  the  reign  of  the 
Emperor  Napoleon  III.  breathes  in  the  Chaplin,  and  the  spirit  of  genre  painting  is 
exemplified  in  the  picture  by  Munier.  A completely  artificial  work  is  the  Coomans, 
but  it  is  strictly  on  artistic  lines.  He  had  to  re-create  a period  out  of  his  archaeo- 
logical investigations,  and  in  doing  so  he  made  a contribution  to  history  which,  in 
time  to  come,  will  be  found  valuable,  for  it  was  a peculiarity  with  him  that  he 
studied  and  represented  closely  the  subjects  that  he  dealt  with  upon  the  firm  basis 
of  the  relics  and  material  of  the  time  that  remained.  The  example  of  Victor 
Giraud  belongs  to  a transition  period,  that  of  Le  Quesne  to  the  Academic  style, 
the  Hagborg  is  pure  naturalism  of  the  most  refined  and  modern  type,  and  the 
works  of  Begas  and  of  Papperitz  illustrate  the  adherence  of  German  art  in  the  first 
named  to  old  lines  but  with  a progressive  tendency,  and  in  the  second  the  merging 
of  the  conventional  German  system  into  the  French.  The  Falero  belongs  to  no 
period  and  no  school.  The  artist  is  affiliated  with  neither.  What  he  is  he  made 
himself.  He  broke  his  own  road,  and  it  is  the  road  of  one  of  the  distinctively 
original  artists  of  the  last  half  of  the  nineteenth  century.  The  experienced  critic 
can,  as  a rule,  pronounce  upon  the  nationality  of  an  artist  from  his  works,  but  no 
critic  could  perform  this  feat  upon  those  by  which  Falero  has  won  and  holds  his 
public.  His  pictures  have  nothing  suggestive  of  the  Spanish  school  about  them, 
yet  he  is  a Spaniard  by  birth  and  long  descent ; they  do  not  reveal  any  traces  of 
French  influence,  although  he  studied  his  art  in  France,  has  always  practised  it 


1 


»ROM  A PAINTING  BY  VICTOR  GIRAUD. 

THE  SLAVE  MERCHANT. 

274 


HOT  POTATOES.” 

275 


FROM  A PAINTING  BY  A.  HAGBORG. 

LA  TOSCA. 

276 


FROM  A PAINTING  BY  J.  WORMS. 

A TEMPTER. 

there,  lives  in  France,  and  is  an  active  participant  in  that  Parisian  life  which  his 
art  assists  in  rendering  luxurious.  It  is  the  art  of  a scholar  and  a man  of  the 
world;  of  a student  and  a thinker,  who  studies,  and  reasons,  and  creates.  Even 
his  style  of  painting  is  unique,  influenced  by  no  one  master  and  no  one  school 
the  style  ot  an  artist  who  has  taught  himself  to  paint  as  he  taught  himself  to  think, 

277 


XVIII. 


The  Austrians,  in  their  pride  in  the  greatest  artist  their  country  has  produced, 
are  fond  of  calling  Hans  Makart  the  modern  Rubens.  And,  indeed,  in  sumptuous 
color  and  dashing  technique  there  is  much  affinity  between  the  two.  Makart  was 
born  on  May  29th,  1840,  in  the  city  of  Salzburg,  and  from  earliest  boyhood  was  a 
queer,  unpractical  child,  of  a dreamy  temperament  and  with  no  special  gift,  ap- 
parently, except  for  drawing.  This  led  to  his  receiving  instruction  from  a local 
drawing-master  sufficient  to  enable  him  to  enter  the  Academy  at  Vienna,  where 
he  had  Ruben  for  a professor.  But  he  and  his  instructor  did  not  agree,  and  after 
a few  months  the  professor  secured  the  dismissal  of  the  intractable  youth  on  the 
ground  of  lack  of  talent.  Makart  returned  to  Salzburg  on  foot,  disgusted  and 


FROM  A PAINTING 


HANS  MAKART. 


THE  FIVE  SENSES. 

?78 


n»OM  A PAINTING  BY  CH.  LANDELLE. 

THE  ORANGE  MERCHANT. 

279 


r'ROM  A PAINTING  BY  HEVA  COOMANS 

THE  RETURN. 

despairing,  but  a local  painter,  Schiffmann  by  name,  had  clearer  eyes  than  the 
Vienna  professor.  He  recognized  the  talent  in  the  boy  and  assisted  him  with 
advice  and  instruction.  More  than  this,  he  interested  the  Prince-Archbishop 
Maximilian  von  Tarnovczyin  him,  and  by  the  munificence  of  the  latter  was  enabled 

28Q. 


to  take  Makart,  whom  he  had  made  his  assistant,  to  Munich.  The  lad  was  then 
nineteen  years  of  age,  a little,  nervous,  fiery  fellow,  with  all  the  vanity  and  self- 
esteem budding  genius  could  well  indulge  in. 

Schiffmann,  on  their  arrival  in  Munich,  presented  this  young  assistant  to 
Piloty,  who  received  him  into  his  studio,  at  that  time  the  most  famous  in  Germany, 


FROM  A PAINTING  BY  P.  TILLIER. 

MADEMOISELLE  ROSE. 
281 


fHOM  A PAINTING  BY  B.  EPP. 

“KISS  ME  QUICK  I” 

in  1861,  Makart  meanwhile  supporting  himself  partly  by  painting  for  Schiffmann 
and  partly  upon  money  provided  by  his  Austrian  patron.  Under  Piloty  his  genius 
developed  rapidly.  He  had  become  a good  landscape  painter  under  Schiffmann, 
who  worked  in  that  field.  Now  he  became  an  even  better  painter  of  the  figure. 
His  first  original  picture,  “Lavoisier  in  Prison,”  was  painted  under  Piloty,  and 
revealed  his  wonderful  feeling  for  color.  The  following  year  came  his  “Afternoon 
Pastime  of  Aristocratic  Venetians,”  which  was  at  once  purchased  for  a St.  Peters- 
burg collection.  These  pictures  practically  set  the  painter  on  his  feet.  He  visited 
London,  Paris,  Venice,  Rome,  travelled  throughout  Italy,  and  as  years  went  on 

282 


visited  Egypt,  Belgium,  Spain,  etc.  His  reputation  extended  far  beyond  Germany, 
and  his  pictures  found  a market  in  France,  England,  and  the  United  States,  while 
the  principal  public  and  private  art  collections  of  Austria  and  Germany  acquired 
examples.  In  1869  the  Emperor  Francis  Joseph  of  Austria  had  prepared  a sump- 
tuous studio  for  him  in  Vienna,  and  here  he  lived  and  worked,  when  not  upon  his 
travels,  painting,  among  other  things,  a number  of  decorative  works  for  the  public 
buildings  and  imperial  palaces.  In  1884,  while  his  fame  was  at  its  zenith,  he  be- 


FROM  A PAINTING  BY  N,  di<Lvf£L. 

THE  DAUGHTER  OF  JEPHTHAH. 

283 


came  insane.  He  had  always  been  eccentric  and  whimsical,  and  when  his  reason 
faded  it  was  never  to  return.  His  death  occurred  in  October,  1884.  He  was  a 
Professor  of  the  Academy  at  Vienna,  from  which,  as  a boy,  he  had  been  expelled 
for  incompetency,  an  Honorary  Member  of  the  Academies  of  Berlin  and  Munich, 
and  an  officer  of  the  Legion  of  Honor,  and  had  at  different  times  taken  gold 


FROM  A PAINTING  BY  W.  A.  BOUGUEREAU. 

FLORA  AND  ZEPHYR. 


medals  at  Vienna  and  elsewhere,  and  won  the  great  Salon  Medal  of  Honor  in 
Paris. 

Makart’s  productions  were  about  evenly  divided  between  very  large  composi- 
tions of  the  grandiose  decorative  order,  and  easel  pictures  and  portraits.  In  por- 
traits of  women  he  was  especially  happy,  and  his  popularity  was  such  that  it  was 
credibly  stated  that  some  of  the  most  beautiful  women  of  the  Austrian  nobility 
voluntarily  posed  for  him  for  his  Dianas,  Venuses,  nymphs,  and  the  like.  'I  he 
figures  in  “The  Five  Senses,”  which  was  painted  in  1879,  are  all  portraits  of  beau- 

284 


•ROM  A PAINTING  BY  DIANA  COOMANS. 

LESBIA. 


$85 


THE  FISHERMAN’S  RETURN. 


ties  of  the  imperial  court.  It  was  in  subjects  which  permitted  the  treatment  of  the 
nude  that  he  revelled  most,  and  no  painter  of  modern  times  equals  him  for  volup- 
tuous and  luxuriant  rendition  of  the  splendors  of  form  and  color  of  the  human 
figure. 

Alfred  Seifert,  of  Munich,  paints  a particularly  spirituelie  characterization  in 
his  “ Nymph,”  and  Miss  Heva  Coomans  presents  a charming,  glimpse  of  the  life  of 
ancient  Pompeii  in  “The  Return.”  The  “ Mademoiselle  Rose,”  of  Paul  Tillier, 
testifies  to  her  allegiance  to  the  flower  from  which  she  takes  her  name  and  of  which 
her  beauty  is  in  every  way  worthy.  “The  Judgment  of  Paris,”  by  the  eminent 
German  painter  E.  F.  Klein,  was  painted  as  a fresco,  and  upon  classical  lines. 
The  Homeric  hero  has  been  called  upon  to  act  as  umpire  upon  the  relative  charms 
of  Juno,  Minerva,  and  Venus,  and  seduced  by  the  promise  of  the  latter  that  if  he 
accords  the  golden  apple  to  her  he  shall  have  the  fairest  woman  in  the  world  for 
his  wife,  he  complies  with  her  desire.  The  fairest  woman  happened  to  be  already 
married.  She  was  Helen,  the  wife  of  the  Lacedaemonian  King  Menelaus.  But 
the  son  of  Priam  and  Hecuba  did  not  permit  such  a trifle  to  interfere  with  the 


FROM  A PAINTING  BY  H.  SCHNEIDER. 

VENUS  WITH  LOVES. 

accomplishment  of  his  desire.  During  her  husband’s  absence  he  carried  Helen  off 
to  Troy,  of  which  his  father  Priam  was  king,  and  so  brought  on  the  great  Trojan 
war  which  furnished  Homer  with  the  material  for  his  immortal  poem.  Nathaniel 
Sichel  paints  “ The  Daughter  of  Jephthah,”  who  fell  a victim  to  her  father’s  vow  to 


celebrate  his  victory  over  the  Ammonites  by  sacrificing  to  the  Lord  whoever  should 
come  first  out  of  the  door  of  his  house  in  Mizpah  to  meet  him  on  his  return,  as  a 
fine  type  of  ripe  Semitic  beauty,  splendid  in  her  rich  garniture  of  jewels  and  coins 
of  gold.  The  Flora  of  the  Romans  was  the  Chloris  of  the  Greeks,  the  goddess  of 
flowers,  and  her  honors  were  celebrated  by  the  spring  festivals  which  extended 
from  April  28th  to  May  1st,  so  that  she  may  be  regarded  as  the  patron  deity  of  the 
modern  May-day.  She  had  a temple  in  Rome,  whose  ruins  still  remain,  and  her 


FROM  A PAINTING  BY  LOUIS  DOYEN.  .. 

“ NOCTURNE." 

288 


^ 


— 


effigy  figures  on  ancient  Roman  coins.  The  legend  of  her  amour  with  Zephyr, 
which  W.  A.  Bouguereau  represents  so  gracefully,  is  one  of  the  prettiest  in  mythol- 
ogy. Miss  Diana  Coomans  makes  a true  heroine  for  the  poet  out  of  her  “ Lesbia,” 
of  whom  among  the  moderns  Tom  Moore  sang  so  tunefully.  The  Virgin  and  the 
Lion  of  the  Zodiac  furnish  Luis  Falero  with  the  theme  of  his  “ Leo  and  Virgo,” 
one  of  his  most  successful  astronomical  fantasies. 

Hermann  Schneider  is  a prominent  historical  painter  of  Germany.  He  is  a 


PAINTING  BY  CH.  CHAPLIN. 


THE  BALL. 

290 


son  of  the  celebrated  Munich  editor  and  bookseller,  Frederick  S.  Schneider, 
whose  firm  of  Braun  & Schneider  founded  the  famous  humorous  journal  Fliegende 
Blatter.  Hermann  Schneider  was  born  in  Munich  in  1846,  and  studied  at  the 
Academy  there  for  two  years  in  the  studio  of  Piloty.  In  consequence  of  his  poor 
health,  he  lived  for  some  years  in  Italy,  chiefly  in  Rome,  where  he  continued  his 


FROM  A PAINTING  BY  C.  E.  DE  BEAUMONT. 


THE  TEMPTATION  OF  ST.  ANTHONY. 

studies.  In  1877,  having  fully  recovered,  he  returned  to  Munich,  and  enterep 
upon  a career  of  great  artistic  success.  His  talent  is  most  versatile.  He  not  only 
paints  religious,  historical,  mythological,  and  idyllic  subjects,  but  is  also  one  of 
the  most  prolific  designers  of  illustrations  in  Germany.  Louis  Doyen,  the  painter 
of  “Nocturne,”  is  the  son  of  the  well-known  French  artist,  Gustave  Doyen.  The 
latter  was  born  at  Festieux  in  the  department  of  Aisne,  and  was  a pupil  of  Bou- 
guereau,  and  his  son  studied  under  him. and  at  the  Ecole  des  Beaux  Arts.  Eugene 
Feyen  was  the  elder  of  two  brothers,  both  distinguished  artists,  and  was  born  at 
Bey-sur-Seille  in  the  department  of  Meurthe  in  1815.  He  studied  in  the  studio  of 
Paul  Delaroche  and  devoted  himself  to  genre  subjects,  especially  those  of  the 
coast.  He  was  first  medalled  in  1866,  and  in  1881  was  made  a member  of  the 
Legion  of  Honor.  His  “ Souvenirs”  or  “Memories”  was  exhibited  in  the  Salon  of 
1868.  His  brother,  who  painted  much  the  same  class  of  subjects,  assumed  the 
name  of  Feyen-Perrin  in  order  to  distinguish  himself  more  clearly  from  the  eldel 
scion  of  their  artistic  house. 

The  decorative  genius  of  Charles  Chaplin  achieved  a veritable  triumph  in 


FROM  A PAINTING  BY  V.  TOJETTI. 

LOVE  AND  INNOCENCE. 


“The  Ball.”  Nothing  could  be  more  characteristic  of  this  phase  of  his  art,  more 
spirited,  graceful,  or  brilliant  in  color  and  effect.  “The  Temptation  of  St. 
Anthony,”  by  Charles  Edouard  de  Beaumont,  was  the  picture  which  made  his  early 
reputation.  It  was  purchased  by  a banker  of  this  city  and  is  now  in  an  American 
collection.  Tommaso  Juglarisisan  Italian  artist,  born  at  Moncalieri,  in  Piedmont, 
in  1845,  and  a pupil  of  the  Academy  of  Turin,  under  Morgari,  and  of  Couture  in 
Paris.  In  1879  he  came  to  tRe  Ujriited  States  to  assume  the  directorship  of  a Bos- 
ton lithographic  establishment,"  but  resigned  this  post  and  set  up  a studio  of  his 
own,  where  he  worked  independently  until  1882,  when  he  became  a professor  at 
the  Boston  Academy.  His  “ Offering  to  the  Lares”  or  household  gods  was  painted 
in  Paris  the  year  before  he  crossed  the  Atlantic.  . Virgilio  Tojetti  is  another 
European  artist  well  known  in  this  country.  He  was  born  in  Rome,  in  1849,  and 
studied  in  Paris  under  Gerdme  and  Bouguereau.  He  came  to  the  United  States 
twenty-five  years  ago,  and  was  for  a long  time  mostly  employed  in  decorative 
painting,  for  which  his  talent  particularly  adapted  him.  He  has,  however,  painted 
a number  of  genre  and  ideal  subjects  on  a smaller  scale,  and  for  a long  time  had 
his  studio  in  New  York  and  was  a regular  exhibitor  at  the  National  Academy  of 
Design.  Later  he  returned  to  Paris,  where  his  pictures  figure  regularly  in  the 
Salon  exhibitions. 


XIX. 

One  of  the  strong  exponents  of  the  art  of  figure  painting  of  our  generation  is 
Lucien  Doucet.  He  is  a native  Parisian  and  a pupil  of  Jules  Lefebvre  and  of  G. 
Boulanger.  After  leaving  their  studios,  Doucet  spent  some  time  in  Italy,  chi'.fly 
as  a student  at  the  French  Academy  in  Rome.  His  first  successes  were  made  in 
portraiture,  a branch  of  art  by  which  he  prospered  much,  but  his  occasional  imag- 
inative pictures,  always  elegant  in  line,  fine  in  color,  and  solid  in  treatment,  even- 
tually gained  a popular  ascendancy  over  his  character  studies.  Of  the  former 
works  his  “ Morning  Dreams”  is  one  of  the  best.  It  is  simple  and  broad  in  hand- 
ling, and  the  original  picture  is  strikingly  fine  in  its  contrasts  of  delicate  and  rich 
color  which  the  monochrome  reproduction,  of  course,  only  suggests.  The  fine 
linen  of  the  couch  relieves  without  violence  of  effect  the  soft  contour  and  tender 
tints  of  the  figure,  while  the  rich  tapestry  which  forms  the  background  gives  a 
sumptuous  splendor  to  the  whole  color  scheme.  The  original  of  the  picture  is  one 
of  the  best-known  and  most  dashing  women  in  Paris,  and  she  posed  for  the  painter 
and  paid  a high  price  for  his  portrait  of  her  in  order  to  use  it  in  the  decoration  of 
her  boudoir,  as  if  to  enjoy  a constant  dream  of  and  revel  in  her  own  beauty. 

The  charge  is  brought  by  captious  criticism  against  such  art  as  this  picture 


FROM  A PAINTING  BY  R.  POETZELBERGER. 

OLD  SONGS. 
294 


NOON. 


stands  for,  that  it  is  an  art  without  ideas,  a mere  shadowing  forth  of  fact.  This 
is  in  so  far  true  that  it  does  not  put  a story  in  narrative  form,  but  it  is  not  true  that 
it  has  no  idea  within  it.  The  artist,  if  he  be  an  artist  and  not  a mere  painter  by 
trade,  is  a creature  of  impressions.  That  which  his  eye  perceives  it  communicates 
at  once  to  his  aroused  intelligence,  and  in  proportion  as  the  impression  is  strong 
his  interest  in  his  subject  grows.  A painter,  let  it  be  supposed,  appoints  a model 
to  pose  for  him  for  a special  purpose.  By  some  accidental  effect,  while  she  is  pre- 
paring for  her  duty,  her  form  assumes  a peculiar  grace  or  brilliancy  or  delicacy  of 
color  whiclt!  appeals  to  his  eye  and  awakens  in  him  an  ambition  to  reproduce  it 
upon  can«P-the  more  absorbing  as  the  problem  it  presents  is  the  more  difficult. 
This  is  l^j^HS^ttien,  and  it  is  quite  as  clearly  defined  an  idea  as  if  it  told  a story 
as  eloquent  as  Charle  "'ickens  could  have  wru.cn  it.  All  good  art,  that  is  to  say, 
art  worthy  of  the  respect  confcfi’ed  upon  if  by  the  title,  must  be  narrative  in  char- 
ac^r.  It  need  not  tell  a story,  with  a dramatic  plot  in  and  a climax  to  it  like 
H/amlet,  let  us  say,  but  the  sonnets  of  Shakspeare,  which  are  episodic  only,  are  quite 
as!  great  works  of  art  as  his  plays.  A picture,  then,  need  not  be  a story-telling 
picture,  but  if  it  is  a picture  it  tells  you  something  about  the  artist  himself,  because 
It  has  in  it  his  feeling,  his  sympathy,  himself  in  fact,  of  which  his  brush  is  merely 
the  master  of  ceremonies  which  performs  the  courtesy  of  introduction.  The  way 

296 


VANITAS. 


298 


FROM  A PAINTING  BY  E.  FAURE. 


THE  SPRING. 


to  judge  a picture  is,  first  to  study  it  for  itself,  next  to  try  to  imagine  what  the 
artist’s  idea  or  thought  was  in  painting  it,  further  to  consider  the  difficulties  he  was 
forced  to  encounter  in  creating  it.  Having  these  facts  in  mind  you  can  proceed 
to  your  own  analysis  of  its  merits  according  to  your  lights  and  your  command  of 
logic, 

As  an  illustration  of  the  points  of  this  argument  you  can  take  the  “ Noon”  of  the 
Polish  artist  Miecislaw  Reyzner,  who  is  one  of  the  strong  new  men  in  Paris.  This 
is  one  of  a series  of  decorative  panels  painted  by  him,  and  like  “ Morning  Dreams,” 
is  in  substance  a masterly  study  of  a model,  but  while  Doucet  was  comparatively 
restricted  by  the  necessity  of  producing  a portrait  as  well  as  a picture,  Reyzner  en- 
joyed full  liberty  to  idealize  upon  his  subject  and  he  has  done  so.  His  figure  shel- 
ters herself  with  the  trail  of  her  scanty  robe  from  the  ardent  sunbeams,  and  the 


FROM  A PAINTING  BY  L.  COURTAT. 

LEDA. 

gorgeous  midsummer  butterflies  flutter  in  the  balmy  breeze  that  tosses  her  hair  and 
blows  her  gauzy  vestments.  So  the  material  • figure  assumes  a decorative  and 
idyllic  significance,  conferred  upon  it  by  the  artist  himself,  to  whom  the  model  pro- 
vides simply  a suggestion  and  foundation  for  the  expression  of  his  ideas. 

The  “ Vanitas”  of  Max  von  Schmaedel  is  one  of  those  allegories  in  which  Ger- 
man art  delights.  Beauty,  in  all  the  voluptuous  pride  of  her  ripe  loveliness,  con- 
templates herself  in  a mirror  which  is  supported  by  wrinkled  and  haggard  age, 
thoughtless  of  what  she  too  must  come  to  in  time,  and  taking  no  heed  of  the 
suggestion  that  her  charms  are  as  frail  and  fleeting  as  the  iridescent  bubbles 
which  the  child  blows  at  her  side,  only  to  watch  them  shine,  float  a moment,  and 
then  burst  and  vanish  into  thin  air.  The  artist  is  a graduate  of  the  Munich  Acad- 


300 


emy  and  has  his  studio  in  that  city.  A.  Ner^t-Moreau  is  a well-known  Parisian 
artist  and  a regular  exhibitor  at  the  Salon.  Cupid  as  “The  Judge  of  Beauty” 
assumes  the  honor  of  arbitrage  accorded  in  Greek  mythology  to  Paris,  and  like  a 
dutiful  son  awards  the  golden  apple  of  the  Hesperides  to  his  mother  Venus.  The 
poetess  in  Miss  Diana  Coomans’  picture  reads  her  latest  production  to  an  evidently 
critical  handmaiden,  who  has  suspended  her  spinning  to  listen,  as  in  duty  bound,  to 
the  effusion  of  her  mistress’  muse.  Diana  and  Heva  Coomans  are  the  daughters 
and  pupils  of  a well-known  Belgian  artist^  the  late  Joseph  Coomans,  and.  are  par- 
ticularly happy  in  subjects  of  Greek  and  Pompeiian  genre,  to  which  they  confine 
themselves  almost  exclusively.  They  have  visited  and  painted  in  America,  but 
now  reside  in  Pans.  “ The  Spring”  is  a worthy  example  of  a French  artist  now 
deceased,  Eugene  Faure.  He  was  born  at  Grenoble,  and  studied  there  and  at  the 
Ecole  des  Beaux  Arts  in  Paris,  being  also  a pupil  of  his  father,  Amadee  Faure,  a 
painter  of  merit.  Eugene  Faure  received  his  first  medal  in  1864,  and  was  widely 
known  as  a painter  of  portraits  and  subject  pictures.  The  painter  of  “Leda," 
Louis  Courtat,  was  born  in  Pans  in  1847,  and  was  one  of  the  most  accomplished 
pupils  of  Alexandre  Cabanel.  In  the  three  years  1873,  1874,  and  1875,  his  exhi- 
bits at  the  Salon  secured  him  the  third,  second,  and  first  class  medals  respectively. 
His  “ Leda”  secured  him  the  last-mentioned  distinction.  The  original  painting 


A TOUCH  OF  POWDER. 


/ROM  A PAINTING  BY  F.  WAGNER. 

DIANA. 


302 


was  purchased  by  the  French  Government  and  is  now  in  the  national  collection  of 
the  Luxembourg  museum.  Henri  Tenre  is  a Parisian  artist  who  first  became 
widely  known  as  a designer  of  spirited  and  admirable  illustrations  for  the  publish- 
ers. He  was  a student  of  the  School  of  Fine  Arts  and  is  an  adept  at  catching  the 
fleeting  phases  and  episodes  of  elegant  fashionable  life.  “A  Touch  of  Powder”  is 
one  of  his  latest  pictures  and  so  far  his  most  successful.  Ferdinand  Wagner  is  the 
son  of  the  distinguished  Bavarian  fresco  painter  of  the  same  name  who  died  in 
1881.  The  son  was  born  at  Passau  in  1847,  and  was  a pupil  of  his  father,  of  the 
Munich  Academy,  and  of  Professor  Quaglio.  He  studied  also  in  Rome  and 
Venice,  and  like  his  father  achieved  fame  and  fortune  as  a fresco  painter.  His 
“ Diana”  is  one  of  these  decorative  works,  but  he  has  also  produced  many  easel 
pictures,  which  are  characterized  by  great  imagination,  exquisite  humor,  and  a 
brilliant  command  of  color.  This  special  picture  is  one  of  the  decorations  painted 
by  him  for  a great  house  of  aristocratic  resort  in  Munich,  in  which  city  he  has  his 
studio. 

Charles  Gabriel  Gleyre,  though  he  rates  as  a French  artist,  is  of  Swiss  birth. 
He  was  born  at  Chevilly  in  1806.  In  1824  he  went  to  Paris,  where  he  studied  for 
a time  in  the  studio  of  Hersent,  which  four  years  later  he  abandoned  in  order  to  go 
to  Italy.  There  he  studied  and  copied  the  old  masters,  living  by  the  sale  of  his 


FROM  A PAINTING  BY  CHARLES  GABRIEL  GLEYRE. 

THE  DANCE  OF  THE  BACCHANTES. 

copies,  and  experimenting  with  original  work,  but  not  exhibiting  any  until  1840. 
During  this  period  he  also  visited  Egypt  and  made  many  studies  there.  His  “St. 
John”  in  1840  attracted  much  attention;  in  1845  another  Biblical  subject  won  him 
a medal,  and  in  1848  he  exhibited  “The  Dance  of  the  Bacchantes.”  The  discus- 
sion over  this  picture  led  to  a rupture  between  the  painter  and  the  Administration 


FROM  A PAINTING  BY  MILE.  HEVA  COOMAN8. 

DREAMING. 


S04 


a chaste  style,  and  held  foremost  rank  among  the  masters  of  his  day.  His  death 
occurred  in  1874,  under  tragic  circumstances.  He  was  visiting  an  exhibition  in 
Paris,  and  apparently  in  perfect  health,  when  he  dropped  dead,  from  what,  as  it 
afterward  appeared,  was  the  rupture  of  a blood-vessel  of  the  heart. 

The  Greek  maiden  in  Miss  Heva  Coomans’  “ Dreaming”  has  been  offering  an 
incantation  to  the  patron  deity  of  some  enchanted  spring,  and  is  now  in  a revery 
of  love  which  has  come  to  her  in  response  to  her  invocation.  Another,  and  more 
modern  “ Revery”  is  that  of  the  heroine  of  Paul  Prosper-Tillier’s  picture.  The 
painter  was  born  at  Bonpere  in  the  Vendee,  and  is  a graduate  from  the  studio  of 
Leon  Cogniet.  Jules  Marie  Sevestre,  who  is  a native  of  Breteuil  in  the  Depart- 
ment of  Eure,  was  also  a pupil  of  Cogniet,  and  his  “ Huntress”  under  the  title  of 
“ Nympne  Chasseresse”  appeared  in  the  Salon  of  1882,  where  it  won  him  a medal. 
The  huntress  is  a follower  of  Diana  and  is  pursuing  her  game  into  a rocky  glen, 
calling  back  to  her  companions  to  follow  and  assist  her  to  bring  down  her  quarry. 
The  movement  and  expression  of  the  figure  are  lifelike  and  noble,  and  the  fine 
drawing  and  strong  color  render  it  essentially  a work  of  capital  importance.  It 
stamped  the  artist  as  a master  of  figure  painting,  and  established  for  him  a reputa- 

305 


of  Fine  Arts,  and  thereafter  he  never  again  exhibited  at  the  Salon,  sending  his 
works  to  Swiss  exhibitions  and  the  galleries  of  dealers,  notably  those  of  Goupil. 
The  late  John  Taylor  Johnston  of  New  York  was  his  first  American  patron,  and  a 
picture  painted  for  him  sold  at  the  sale  of  the  Johnston  collection  for  the  at  that 
time  high  price  of  $5,200.  He  was  a man  of  great  inventive  and  poetic  genius  and 


FROM  A PAINTING  BY  PAUL  TILLIER. 

REVERY. 


PROM  A PAINTING  BY  EUGENE  FEYEN. 


A YOUNG  WOMAN  OF  CANCALE. 


[ion  by  which  he  has  prospered.  The  original  work  is  now  in  one  of  the  French 
museums.  A tender  and  delicate  sentiment  breathes  in  “ Left  to  the  Wide  World” 
by  Otto  Lingner,  of  Munich,  another  well-known  German  artist.  Nathaniel  Sichel, 
of  Berlin,  in  his  “ Lydia”  embodies  a type  of  beauty  of  which  traces  yet  exist  in  the 
artistic  remains  of  the  once  famous  kingdom  of  Asia  Minor  over  which  Croesus  was 
the  fabled  ruler.  “The  Bather”  of  Mme.  Jacqueline  Comerre-Paton  is  another 
illustration  of  artistic  inventiveness  and  sentiment  adopting  and  refining  a common- 
place  subject  into  ideal  character.  The  figure  is  the  figure  of  a model  painted 


«OM  A PAINTING  BY  OTTO  LINGNER. 


LEFT  TO  THE  WIDE  WORLD. 

307 


FROM  A PAINTING  BY  N.  SICHEL. 


LYDIA. 


from  life.  But  by  the  attitude,  the  sylvan  solitude  of  the  background,  and  the 
beautiful  harmony  of  color  with  which  she  has  invested  her  picture,  the  artist  has 
converted  a poseuse  hired  for  a few  francs  a day  into  a nymph  worthy  to  be  one  of 
the  attendants  upon  Diana.  This  same  model,  for  example,  is  one  of  the  best- 
known  women  of  her  class  in  Paris.  She  has,  what  is  not  common  with  protes- 

308 


sional  models,  an  almost  perfect  beauty  of  face  and  figure.  Usually  a model  of  a 
fine  figure  is  not  particularly  handsome  of  feature,  and  frequently  one  portion  of 
the  figure  may  be  faultless  and  another  deficient  in  some  particulars.  Conse- 
quently, a model  who  approaches  ideal  perfection  is  in  great  demand  and  is  painted 
by  many  different  artists.  This  one  will  appear  in  several  other  pictures,  by  dif- 
ferent hands,  in  “Modern  Figure  Painting.”  and  in  each  case  it  will  be  found  that 


FROM  A PAINTING  BY  MME.  JACQUELINE  COMERRE-PATON. 

THE  BATHER. 

the  artist  has  treated  her  differently  from  a different  personal  standpoint,  and  cr* 
ated  from  her  a distinct  characterization. 

This  again  emphasizes  the  point  to  which  the  reader’s  attention  has  already 
been  directed,  that  an  artist’s  personality  must  reveal  itself  in  his  work  in  order  to 
render  it  a work  of  art  at  all,  and  that,  unless  this  is  the  case,  his  productions  re- 
main purely  mechanical,  and  not  in  any  way  superior  to  a direct  photograph  from 
nature. 


XX 

The  tricksy  god  of  love  has  been  presented  in  many  guises  by  many  painters, 
but  perhaps  never  more  piquantly  than  as  paying  the  tribute  of  art  to  loveliness 
in  “Cupid  the  Artist.”  Here,  in  a nook  of  Arcady,  where  he  has  surprised  some 
nymphs  at  their  bath  in  a placid  stream,  he  has  chosen  from  among  them  the  fairest 
and  is  delineating  her  upon  the  canvas.  Strict  accuracy  renders  a modern  sketch- 
ing easel  rather  out  of  place  in  Arcadian  groves,  and  a modern  canvas  and  paint-box 
equally  anachronistic,  while  most  people  know  that  in  Arcadian  times  oil  colors 
were  not  known.  But  the  poet,  when  he  turns  his  fancy  free,  has  privileges, 
whether  he  paints  with  pen  or  brush,  and  we  judge  him  by  the  concrete  result  and 
not  by  minor  details.  The  painter  in  this  case  has  availed  himself  of  this  preroga- 
tive. Emile  Louis  Foubert  is  a Parisian  by  birth,  but  commenced  to  study  art  as  a 
pupil  of  the  municipal  school  of  the  city  of  Bayonne.  Then  he  passed  succes- 


FROM  A PAINTING  BY  E.  U FOUBERT. 


CUPID  THE  ARTIST. 
:io 


THE  DEATH  OF  SARDANAPALUS. 
311 


. 


LAIS. 

312 


»«0M  A PAINTING  BY  L.  ROYER. 

VENUS  AND  THE  BODY  OF  HECTOR. 
313 


sively  through  the  studios  of  Leon  Bonnat,  Busson,  and  Henri  Levi.  He  took  his 
first  medal  in  1880,  and  is  mainly  known  as  a painter  of  historical  subjects  and 
portraits,  and  of  ideal  compositions  of  the  decorative  order.  He  is  a fine  draughts- 
man and  a strong  colorist,  his  style  combining  those  of  his  two  strongest  masters, 
Bonnat  for  color  and  Levy  for  ideas  and  composition.  His  portraits  are  also 
highly  esteemed.  Alger  V.  Currier,  the  painter  of  “A  Study,”  is  one  of  the  strong 
young  men  who  now  form  an  important  group  in  French  art,  upon  which  their 
technical  skill  and  energetic  progressiveness  exercise  a healthily  stimulating  effect. 
He  is  a pupil  of  the  Paris  Ecole  des  Beaux  Arts,  and  of  American  birth.  Ignace 
Spiridon  is  a prominent  figure  in  the  art  world  of  Paris.  He  was  born  at  Rome,  and 
is  one  of  several  brothers,  all  either  artists  or  dealers  in  works  of  art.  He  studied 


FROM  A PAINTING  BY  HANS  MAKART. 

THE  ENTRY  OF  CHARLES  V.  INTO  ANTWERP. 

first  in  Italy,  and  then  settled  in  Paris  where  he  still  maintains  his  studio.  His 
chief  successes  have  been  made  in  such  artificial  but  highly  polished  and  finely  exe- 
cuted subjects  as  his  “Lais.”  The  scene  is  at  a masked  ball  at  the  Paris  Opera 
House.  A queen  of  the  half-world  for  which  Paris  is  famous  ogles  some  admirer 
as  she  ascends  the  staircase  to  the  ball-room.  The  background  reveals  the  grand 
staircase  of  the  Opera  House,  one  of  the  architectural  masterpieces  of  the  world, 
which  owes  its  creation  to  the  reign  of  Napoleon  III.  Masqueraders  ascend  the 
steps,  and  from  the  surrounding  galleries  of  the  vast  entrance  hall  earlier  arrivers 
survey  the  new-comers.  In  his  “ Nymph”  Louis  Courtat  again  reveals  his  mas- 
terly command  of  form,  and  his  fine  gift  in  the  rendition  of  tone  and  color.  The 
pensive  figure  is  of  a ripe  splendor  of  bodily  beauty,  relieved  by  surroundings  of 
rich  midsummer  verdure,  bejewelled  with  wild-flowers. 

Hans  Makart  scored  one  of  and  perhaps  his  most  triumphant  of  successes  in  his 

814 


THE  LOVE  LETTER. 


famous  painting  of  “The  Entry  of  Charles  V.  into  Antwerp.”  The  historical  epi- 
sode is  clearly  detailed  in  the  chronicles.  Charles  V. , Emperor  of  Germany,  was 
born  in  Ghent  in  1500,  and  as  the  son  of  Philip,  archduke  of  Austria,  and  of 
Joanna,  daughter  of  Ferdinand  and  Isabella  of  Spain,  had  also  a claim  to  the  latter 
throne,  which  he  assumed  at  the  age  of  sixteen  upon  the  death  of  his  maternal 
grandfather.  Three  years  later  his  paternal  grandfather,  the  great  Emperor  Maxi- 
milian of  Germany,  died,  and  he  was  invested  with  his  title  and  crowned  as  Roman 
Emperor  at  Aix-la-Chapelle  in  1520  by  the  Pope  himself.  It  was  at  this  period 

315 


' w 


FROM  * PAINTINO  BY  E.  FORTI. 

THE  SONG. 

316 


FROM  A PAINTING  BY  L.  PERRAULT. 

MEDITATION. 


317 


EXPECTATION. 

818 


that  he  made  his  triumphal  entry  into  Antwerp,  at  which,  it  is  recorded,  the  women 
strewed  the  streets  for  him  with  flowers  and  jewels,  and  the  fairest  maidens  of  the 
city,  in  the  gauzy  attire  of  classical  nymphs,  acted  as  a part  of  his  escort  of  honor. 
His  death,  as  a gloomy  and  ascetical  zealot,  in  1558,  is  well  known.  Makart’s  pic- 
ture was  painted  for  the  Paris  Exposition  of  1878,  of  which  it  was  one  of  the  sensa- 
tions. It  is  a colossal  canvas,  of  the  most  daring  splendor  of  color,  vivid  in 
lifelike  movement,  and  carefully  studied  in  its  archaeology  and  local  color.  The 
introduction  of  the  partially  undraped  female  figures  has  been  criticised,  but  it  was 
an  undoubted  custom  of  the  feudal  times  which  had  not  yet  passed  away  when 
Charles  became  the  crowned  master  of  half  of  Europe.  The  original  picture  was 
purchased  by  the  municipality  of  Hamburg,  and  is  now  the  chief  attraction  of  the 
public  Kunsthalle  of  that  ancient  German  city.  The  artist,  who  was  unquestion- 
ably the  greatest  painter  Austria  ever  produced,  was  thirty-eight  years  of  age 
when  he  painted  this  work,  and  apparently  in  a lusty  prime  with  many  years  of 
active  life  and  successive  triumphs  before  him.  Yet  six  years  later  he  died,  a 
mental  wreck  and  physically  as  helpless  as  an  infant.  “The  Love-Letter,”  by 
Georg  Horn,  is  the  work  of  a Munich  artist  and  graduate  of  the  academy  of  that 
famous  Bavarian  art  centre.  E.  Forti,  the  painter  of  “ The  Song,”  is  an  Italian 
painter,  largely  concerned  in  decorative  compositions,  who  has  his  studio  in  Rome. 

His  easel  pictures  are  best  known  in  Germany,  where,  it  may  be  remarked,  the 

319 


CUPID  THE  PILOT. 


works  of  modern  Italian  artists  enjoy  a favor  with  collectors  second  only  to  that 
of  those  native  to  the  country.  Leon  Basile  Perrault’s  “ Meditation”  speak?  for 
itself.  It  is  one  cf  his  most  sterling  productions.  The  career  of  the  artist  has 
been  in  its  way  one  of  the  happiest  in  the  annals  of  modern  art.  He  was  born  at 
Poitiers  in  1832,  was  a pupil  of  Picot  and  of  Bouguereau,  won  his  first  medal  at  the 


FROM  A PAINTING  BY  J.  J.  HENNER. 


DANIELA. 

320 


FRCW  A PAINTING  BY  R.  POETZELBcSGER. 


THE  LOST  CHORD. 

821 


Salon  of  1864,  and  is  now  a member  of  the  Legion  of  Honor.  His  works  are 
among  the  most  popular  of  any  living  French  painters  in  this  country,  and  exam- 
ples of  him  are  to  be  found  in  all  the  principal  collections  of  America. 

Edward  John  Poynter  was  born  of  English  parentage  in  Paris  in  1836.  His 
father,  Ambrose  Poynter,  was  a prominent  architect.  The  son  studied  in  London 
at  Leigh’s  Art  School  and  under  W.  C.  T.  Dobson,  and  in  Paris  under  Gleyre,  in 
whose  studio  he  spent  the  years  from  1856  to  1859.  In  i860  he  established  his 
studio  in  London,  where  he  remains.  He  was  first  known  as  a water-color  painter, 
but  his  industry  has  since  his  early  success  been  concentrated  on  oil  and  fresco. 
He  was  made  an  associate  of  the  Royal  Academy  in  1869  and  a full  member  in 
1876,  was  Slade  professor  of  fine  arts  at  the  University  College,  London,  for  five 
years  from  1870,  and  since  1875  has  been  director  of  the  art  schools  at  the  South 
Kensington  Museum.  He  is  also  a member  of  the  Belgium  Water-Color  Society, 
and  in  1879  published  a series  of  very  valuable  and  instructive  “Lectures  on  Art” 
in  London.  His  rank  in  English  art  is  next  to  that  of  Sir  Frederick  Leighton,  the 
President  of  the  Royal  Academy.  His  “ Diadumene”  was  his  Royal  Academy  pic- 
ture for  1884.  The  figure  is  life-size,  and  the  painting  of  great  brilliancy  and 
purity  of  color  and  accuracy  of  detail.  Like  Leighton  and  Alma-Tadema,  Poynter 


FROM  A PAINTING  BY  PAUL  TILLIER. 

THE  CIGARETTE.” 

has  made  a practically  exhaustive  study  of  Greek  and  Roman  archaeology,  and  in 
this  work  some  of  his  strongest  and  most  accurate  knowledge  is  shown.  The 
fresco  paintings  executed  by  this  artist  for  public  buildings  in  England  are  of  the 
first  importance,  especially  those  for  St.  Stephen’s  Church  at  Dulwich.  In  the 
Houses  of  Parliament,  and  in  St.  Paul’s  Cathedral  in  London,  he  has  done  some 

322 


work  in  mosaic  which  has  no  peer  in  English  art.  Felix  Henri  Giacomotti  was 
born  at  Quingey,  in  the  department  of  Doubs,  in  1828.  He  s'udied  at  the  Pans 
Ecole  des  Beaux  Arts  and  under  Picot,  previous  to  which  time  he  had  taught 
himself  lithography  so  that  he  could  earn  his  living,  until,  in  1854,  he  won  the 
Prix  de  Rome.  He  was  medalled  at  the  Salon  in  1864,  1865,  and  1866,  and  in  1867 
made  a member  of  the  Legion  of  Honor.  His  “ Nymph  and  Centaur”  was  painted 


FROM  A PAINTING 


JACQUES  WAGRKZ. 


CHANTING  THE  SONG. 

324 


FROM  A PAINTING  BV  H.  SCHNEIDER. 

THE  DANCE  IN  THE  THEATRE  OF  BACCHUS- 

in  1.880,  and  the  original  picture  is  now  in  a French  public  museum,  having  been 
purchased  by  the  State.  Joseph  Coomans  was  a Belgian  by  birth,  but  had  studied 
in  Paris  and  Italy,  travelled  much  in  Egypt,  and  even  resided  and  worked  in  the 
United  States.  “ Fructidor”  was  by  the  French  revolutionary  calendar  the  com- 
mencement of  autumn,  September,  the  month  of  fruit.  Georges  Pierre  Marie  van 
den  Bos,  the  well-known  French  artist,  represents  it  by  a mother  and  child  in  the 
costume  of  the  period  of  the  Directory,  traversing  an  alley  of  the  Luxembourg 
garden.  Ferdinand  Max  Bredt  is  a native  of  Bavaria  and  a pupil  of  the  Academy 
of  Munich,  where  he  has  his  studio.  “ The  Cigarette”  is  a graceful  and  character- 
istic conceit  by  that  most  Parisian  of  artists,  Paul  Tillier. 

The  close  study  which  Jacques  Clement  Wagrez  has  made  of  mediaeval  Floren- 
tine customs  and  types  is  illustrated  to  good  advantage  in  his  “ Chanting  the  Song.” 
The  scene  is  laid  in  the  famous  Cascine  Park,  the  aristocratic  pleasure-ground  of 
Florence.  The  artist  was  born  in  Paris,  and  was  a pupil  of  Pils  and  Henri  Leh- 
man, and  he  is  widely  known  as  a painter  in  water-colors  and  a designer  of  illustra- 
tions. The  festivals  to  Bacchus  originated  with  the  Greeks,  and  were  adopted  by 
the  Romans,  and  the  dance  in  the  temple  dedicated  to  the  god  was  an  important 
feature  of  them.  The  artist,  Hermann  Schneider,  is  a native  of  Munich  and  stud- 
ied there  under  Piloty  and  in  Italy.  His  “ Dance  in  the  Theatre.of  Bacchus”  is  one 
of  a series  of -frescoes  painted  in  1880  for  the  banquet  hall  in  the  Drachenburg, 
near  Konigswinter  on  the  Rhine. 


XXI. 

“La  Grande  Iza"  was  the  heroine  of  an  enormousiy  successful  realistic  novel 
by  Alexis  Bouvier,  and  her  pseudonym  gave  its  title  to  the  book.  While  excite- 
ment over  the  story  was  still  at  {ever  heat  in  Paris,  there  appeared  at  the  Salon  of 
1882  a picture  of  the  central  figure  of  Bouvier’s  romance,  based  on  his  description 
of  her  morning  toilet.  The  painter,  Blaise  Bukovac,  was  a native  of  Dalmatia, 
born  in  1855,  and  had,  as  a boy,  been  taken  to  New  York  by  an  uncle.  The 
uncle  dying,  the  nephew,  at  the  age  of  twelve,  was  compelled  to  earn  his  living  by 
menial  labor,  and  continued  to  do  so  for  three  years,  when  the  Consul-General  of 
Austria  in  that  city  learned  of  his  case  and  provided  him  with  the  means  for  re- 
turning to  his  own  country.  There  he  shipped  as  an  apprentice  of  a merchant 
vessel,  and  being  injured  by  a fall  from  a mast  was  left  at  the  hospital  in  Constan-1 
tinople.  After  recovering  he  returned  to  Ragusa,  and  once  more  shipped,  this 
time  on  a voyage  to  Peru,  left  his  vessel  at  Callao,  and  worked  at  Lima  for  the 
railroad  until  he  was  able  to  obtain  a passage  to  San  Francisco.  Here  he  began 
to  paint,  and  having  by  rigid  economy  accumulated  a little  capital,  he  went  in 


LA  GRANDE  IZA 

326 


SPRING  FLOWERS. 


1877  to  Paris  and  became  a pupil  of  Cabanel  at  the  Ecole  des  Beaux  Arts.  He 
commenced  to  exhibit  in  1879,  and  is  now  one  of  the  popular  and  prosperous  paint- 
ers of  Paris. 

Auguste  Charles  Mengin,  the  painter  of  “Spring  Flowers,”  was  born  in  Paris 
and  was  also  a pupil  of  Cabanel.  He  was  first  medalled  in  1876.  “The  Toilet” 
is  one  of  the  most  successful  idyllic  productions  of  Paul  Tillier,  both  in  conception 
and  subtle  delicacy  of  color.  Another  example  of  Blaise  Bukovac,  in  a different 


F.IOM  A PAINTING  BY 


TILUEft. 


THE  TOILET. 


vein  entirely  to  the  first,  is  given  in  “ Aurora  Dying  in  the  Arms  of  Day.”  It  is  a 
decoration  for  the  centre  of  a ceiling,  and  held  in  a high  key  of  light  color  in  order 
to  give  height  to  the  apartment  for  which  it  was  designed.  The  “ Sainte  Marie 
Madeleine”  of  Louis  Courtat  represents  the  pardoned  penitent  in  prayer  in  her 


FROM  A PAINTING  BY  NOLA. 


LOVE’S  POSTMAN. 


cavern,  with  the  answer  to  her  supplication  hovering  in  an  aureola  over  her  head. 
Charles  Monginot,  the  painter  of  “The  Chocolate  Hour,”  was  born  at  Brienne  iri 
the  Aube  in  1825,  and  was  one  of  the  foremost  pupils  of  Thomas  Couture.  He 
received  his  first  medal  in  1864.  He  devoted  himself  largely  to  decorative  art, 
and  paints  with  equal  facility  and  felicity  of  touch  fruits,  flowers,  animals,  and  fig- 
ures. He  has  made  a specialty  in  its  way  of  subjects  of  a light  and  graceful  order 

330 


PROM  A PAINTING  BV  0.  BUKOVAC. 

AURORA  DYING  IN  THE  ARMS  OF  DAY. 


of  the  last  century  in  France,  to  which  his  piquant  “ Chocolate  Hour”  belongs. 
Antoine  Dominique  Magaud  is  one  of  the  gifted  men  who  graduated  from  the 
school  of  Cogniet.  He  was  born  at  Marseilles  in  1817  and  took  his  first  medal  as 
far  back  as  1861.  In  1869  he  was  appointed  director  of  the  Marseilles  Academy, 
in  which  he  had  made  his  first  studies  in  art,  and  his  pictures  are  to  be  found  in 
the  museums  of  that  and  other  French  cities.  He  is  one  of  the  strong  painters  of 
history,  portraits  and  genre,  and  “ A Kiss  in  the  Glass”  fully  represents  him  in  the 
latter  field. 

Edouard  Zier  is  the  son  of  an  eminent  artist,  Victor  Casimir  Zier.  The  latter 
was  born  at  Warsaw,  and  studied  first  there  under  Norblin  and  then  in  Paris  undet 


Cogniet.  The  son  was  born  in  Paris  in  1856,  commenced  to  study  under  the  direc- 
tion of  his  father,  and  then  became  a pupil  of  J.  L.  Gdrome.  The  first  picture  which 
he  sent  to  the  Salon  in  1874  made  his  reputation  and  was  purchased  by  the  State, 
and  in  1876  he  received  a medal  for  a work  in  the  Centennial  Exhibition  in  Phila- 
delphia. His  “Psyche”  was  painted  in  1882.  The  subject  is  the  task  set  for  the 
heroine  by  Venus,  to  bring  her  a vase  of  water  from  an  enchanted  spring  which 
was  guarded  by  ferocious  monsters.  With  the  aid  of  Cupid,  Psyche  performed  this 
duty  in  safety.  Oddly  enough,  in  the  same  exhibition  the  elder  Zier  had  also  a 
“Psyche,”  although  it  represented  an  entirely  different  episode  of  her  fabulous 
career. 

Frangois  Flameng  was  born  in  Paris  in  1859.  His  father  was  the  distinguished 

331 


FROM  A PAINTING  BY  LOUIS  COURTAT. 

SAIN  ( E MARIE  MADELEINE. 


FROM  A PAINTING  BY  C.  MONGINOT. 

THE  CHOCOLATE  HOUR. 


engraver,  Leopold  Flameng.  He  studied  under  Cabanel,  Edmond  Hedouin,  and 
Jean  Paul  Laurens,  and  took  his  first  medal  and  the  Prix  du  Salon  together  in  1879. 
His  principal  works  are  important  historical  compositions  or  historical  genres,  usu- 
ally of  the  period  of  the  eighteenth  century,  of  which  latter  his  “ Bath  of  Court 
Ladies”  is  a representative  example.  The  scene  is  in  a French  park,  in  the  disso- 
lute times  of  the  Regency,  or  early  in  the  reign  of  Louis  XV. 


FROM  A PAINTING  BY  A.  D.  MAGAUD. 


A KISS  IN  THE  GLASS. 


FROM 


MNTINQ  BY  L.  COMERRE. 


SPRING. 


FROM  A PAINTING  BY  F.  FLAMENG. 


BATH  OF  COURT  LADIES. 


Jules  Adolphe  Breton,  one  of  the  greatest  figure  painters  of  modern  times,  was 
born  at  Courrieres,  in  the  Department  Pas  de  Calais,  in  1827.  He  studied  under 
Devigne  and  Drolling,  first  exhibited  in  1849,  took  all  the  medals  in  succession 
until  he  gained  the  medal  of  honor  in  1872,  and  has  been  an  officer  of  the  Legion 
of  Honor  since  1867.  From  the  first  he  devoted  himself  to  scenes  of  rural  and 
peasant  life,  and  his  canvases  now  command  enormous  sums.  One  sold  in  New 
York  at  auction,  a few  years  ago,  for  $55,000,  and  he  is  represented  in  all  the  nota- 
ble American  collections.  “ The  Laundress”  is  one  of  his  more  recent  works.  It 
is  the  custom  in  Brittany  for  the  women  of  the  farms  and  villages  to  perform  their 
family  washing  out-of-doors  in  a convenient  stream,  and  the  stalwart  figure  he  pre- 
sents has  completed  her  task  for  the  day,  while  in  the  distance  others  are  still 
busied  with  work  and  gossip.  Breton  is  a poet  as  well  as  a painter,  and  a volume 
of  his  verse  has  received  high  critical  praise.  His  art  assumes  the  complexion  of 
his  mind,  and  even  his  simplest  subjects  are  never  devoid  of  poetry,  while  his  color 
is  powerful,  his  technique  broad  and  forcible,  and  his  drawing  unexcelled  in 
accuracy. 

The  “ Fellah  Woman”  of  Nathaniel  Sichel  is  an  attractive  specimen  of  the  mod- 
ern Egyptian  peasant  class — more  so  than  her  kind  often  are  in  real  life.  Another 
view  of  Oriental  life  is  afforded  by  “ The  Odalisque”  of  Pantaleone  Szyndler.  The 
artist  is  of  Polish  birth,  from  Warsaw,  and  studied  first  in  his  native  city  under 
Rafat  Hadziewicz,  from  whose  instructions  he  passed  to  the  academies  of  Munich 


and  of  Rome.  Next  he  settled  in  Paris,  as  a pupil  of  Cabanel,  and  there  he  re- 
mains. Much  of  his  productiveness  is  in  the  line  of  portraiture,  but  he  varies  it 
with  works  of  romantic  and  picturesque  genre.  His  odalisque  is  some  poor  de- 
posed favorite  of  the  harem,  who  has  fallen  into  disgrace  with  her  master.  The 
latter  has  sent  his  private  executioner  to  dispatch  her,  and  the  unfortunate  woman 


PAINTING  BY  JULES  BRETON. 


THE  LAUNDRESS. 

336 


FSOM  * e*IHTINa  BY  N.  SICHEL. 


FELLAH  WOMAN. 


PROM  A PAINTING  BY  P.  8ZYN0LER. 

THE  ODALISQUE. 


appeals  frantically  to  the  grim  visitor  to  spare  her  life — an  appeal  which,  as  js 
invariable  in  connection  with  these  sinister  tragedies  of  the  seraglio,  will  be  in 
vain.  “The  Captain’s  Share”  is  the  work  by  which  Charles  Edouard  de  Beaumont 
is  represented  in  the  Luxembourg  collection.  It  was  painted  in  1868,  and  repre- 


338 


sents  a mediaeval  town  which  has  been  put  to  the  sack  by  a band  of  mercenaries. 
Among  the  plunder  of  the  place  the  most  beautiful  women  have  been  reserved  for 
the  commander  of  the  brutal  horde.  The  artist,  who  died  a couple  of  years  ago, 
was  born  at  Lannion  in  1821,  and  was  made  a member  of  the  Legion  of  Honor  in 
1877.  Mile.  Marguerite  Arosa,  the  painter  of  “Before  the  Bath,”  is  a lady  of 


FROM  A PAINTING  BY  0.  E.  DE  BEAUMONT. 


THE  CAPTAIN’S  SHARE. 


Parisian  birth,  and  a pupil  of  Mayer,  Amand-Gautier,  and  Barrias.  “ Love’s  Post- 
man,” by  an  Italian  artist,  G.  Nola,  is  a conceit  which  readily  explains  itself. 

Clemence  Isaure  was  a noble  lady  of  the  city  of  Toulouse  who  from  childhood 
had  possessed  the  gift  of  poetry.  It  was  in  the  period  of  the  troubadours  that  she 
lived,  and  in  order  to  encourage  their  art  she  instituted  an  annual  competition  in 
poetry  which  is  known  as  the  Jeux  Floreux.  The  prize  of  the  competition, 'which 
began  about  1490,  when  the  founder  of  it  was  forty  years  of  aT^vXas'a  laurel 
wreath  finely  wrought  in  silver,  with  which  the  victor  was  crowr  spray  of 

flowers  of  the  same  metal.  The  picture  shows  the  poetess  hefself,  crowned  and 
with  an  illuminated  manuscript  scroll  of  her  victorious  verses  in  her  hand.  The 
original  is  in  one  of  our  American  collections.  The  artist,  Jules  Joseph  Lefebvre, 
was  born  at  Tournan  in  1834.  He  became  a pupil  of  Leon  Cogniet,  and  won  the 
Prix  de  Rome  in  1861.  He  received  his  first  Salon  medal  in  1865,  the  Grand 
Medal  of  Honor  of  the  Salon  in  1886,  the  Grand  Prize  at  the  Paris  Exposition  of 
1889,  and  has  been  an  Officer  of  the  Legion  of  Honor  since  1878.  The  original 
of  his  “ Clemence  Isaure”  has  for  many  vears  been  one  of  the  gems  of  a famous  pri- 
vate art  collection  in  the  United  States.  Lefebvre  is  one  of  the  most  powerful 


painters  of  the  figure  now  alive.  He  is  not  only  a draughtsman  of  consummate 
skill  and  accuracy, but  a colorist  of  the  greatest  force.  He  is  a student  of  history  and 
of  the  classics  as  well  as  an  artist,  and  while  he  seldom  essays  historical  themes,  pre- 
ferring rather  the  realms  of  mythology,  poetry,  and  romance,  when  he  does  devote 


FROM 


riNO  BY  HENRY  PICOU. 


THESE  ARE  YOUR  PLEASURES. 

340 


himself  to  graver  subjects  his  successes  are  of  the  first  order.  Personally  he  is 
a noble  type  of  the  progressive  man.  Even  at  the  age  of  sixty  years  he  is  a large, 
handsome  man,  never  idle,  always  working  out  his  ideas  at  his  easel,  instructing 
his  pupils,  for  from  his  studio  graduated  many  artists  of  the  foremost  ability — a 
master,  in  short,  in  all  that  the  term  means. 


CLEMENCE  ISAURE. 


341 


& w 


XXIII 


PROM  A PAINTING  BY  JULES  BRETON. 


THE  GLEANER  OF  POTATOES. 

342 


FROM  A PAINTING  BY  L.  R.  CARRIER-BELLEUSE. 

ARLEQUINE. 

343 


FROM  A PAINTING  BY  A.  DELOBBE. 

MAIDEN  AND  CUPID  AT  THE  FOUNTAIN. 


From  the  most  primitive  times,  the  rural  poor  have  been  conceded  the  charita- 
ble privilege  of  gathering  in  the  wheat-fields  the  scattered  remnants  of  the  harvest 
which  the  harvesters  have  left  upon  the  ground.  In  France  this  same  rule  applies 
tn  the  potato-fields.  When  the  potatoes  are  harvested  many  stunted  or  partially 
blighted  tubers  are  cast  aside  by  the  diggers,  and  these  the  women,  who  constitute 
the  majority  of  the  hands  employed,  are  permitted  to  carry  home  to  use  in  the 

345 


FROM  A PAINTING  BY  E.  HUBERT. 


THE  WITCHERY  OF  MELODY. 

846 


FROM  A PAINTING  BY  F.  VINEA. 

WINE  AND  SONG. 

family  soup-pot.  The  peasant  woman  in  Jules  Breton’s  fine  canvas,  which  was 
one  of  his  contributions  to  the  Salon  of  1887,  is,  after  a day  in  the  fields,  plodding 
homeward,  bearing  on  her  head  a sack  of  potatoes  which  she  has  gathered. 

347 


Louis  Robert  Carrier-Belleuse  is  a son  of  the  prominent  French  sculptor,  Albert 
Ernest  Carrier-Belleuse,  born  at  Anizy-le-Chateau  in  the  Aisne  and  a pupil  of  David 
d’ Angers.  The  son  is  a native  of  Paris  and  was  born  in  1848.  He  studied  sculp- 
ture under  his  father  and  painting  under  Cabanel  and  Boulanger,  exhibited  his  first 
picture  in  1870,  and  then  entered  the  army  to  serve  against  the  Prussians  and  the 


THE  READER. 

348 


r 


FROM  A PAINTING  BY 


LANDELLE 


RUTH. 

350 


FROM  A PAINTING  BY  CAROLUS  DURAN. 

BACCHUS. 

Communists.  After  the  fall  of  the  Commune  he  resumed  his  artistic  labors,  and 
his  pictures  found  a wide  acceptance.  In  1877  he  commenced  to  devote  much  time 
to  modelling  and  decorating  pottery  for  a private  firm  and  for  the  Government 
works  at  Sevres.  He  has  also  collaborated  with  his  father  in  works  of  sculpture, 
and  has  produced  statuary  in  bronze,  having  been  in  his  youth  employed  in  the 
Barbedienne  foundry.  He  is  an  excellent  colorist,  and,  as  is  natural  from  his 
knowledge  of  modelling,  a strong  and  correct  draughtsman.  His  “ Arlequine,”  a 
Columbine  in  a ball  masquerade  in  imitation  of  her  lover  Harlequin,  is  one  of  his 
characteristic  and  popular  works.  Emmanuel  Benner  was  born  at  Mulhouse  in 
Alsace  in  1836,  and  until  1866  was  a designer  of  decorative  designs  for  an  indus- 
trial establishment.  The  means  he  had  accumulated  by  this  time  enabled  him  to 
study  painting  under  Henner  and  Bonnat,  and  afterward  in  Italy.  Much  of  his 
Italian  period  he  spent  on  the  island  of  Capri,  in  the  Bay  of  Naples,  and  his  “Sum- 
mer Night  in  the  Green  Grotto”  is  a subject  taken  from  one  of  the  famous  caverns 
of  that  picturesque  spot.  Benner  won  his  first  medal  at  The  Salon  of  1881,  and 
has  since  taken  a number  more  oi  these  coveted  badges  of  artistic  merit.  Francois 
Alfred  Delobbe  is  a Parisian,  born  in  1835.  In  1851  he  became  a student  at  the 
Ecole  des  Beaux  Arts,  but  in  consequence  of  the  interruption  of  his  studies  it  was 
not  until  1861  that  he  commenced  to  exhibit  portraits,  genre  subjects,  history  and 
ideal  compositions.  In  1874  his  Salon  picture  secured  him  his  first  medal,  and  his 
progress  has  since  been  steady  and  increasingly  prosperous. 

352 


